


The Bounty Hunter

by Emimar



Series: The Flik Sivrak Series [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-23
Updated: 2014-02-23
Packaged: 2018-01-13 13:08:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1227559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emimar/pseuds/Emimar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Title: The Bounty Hunter In progress<br/>Author: Emimar<br/>Characters: Shiba Black (OC), Flik Sivrak (OC)<br/>Era: 6 months after ANH<br/>Rating: PG-13<br/>Category: Action<br/>Summary: Following the desturction of her homeworld, Shiba Black tries to rebuild her life. She meets the mysterious Shistavanen bounty hunter, Flik Sivrak, who is much more than he seems!<br/>Disclaimers: I have not, am not, and will not recieve any profit from the creation of this story. I do not own any of the canon Star Wars characters that feature in this story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It had been six long months since she had gotten the news that Alderaan had gone, along with her husband, Chan and the rest of her family except, fortunately, for her daughter and son, who had been on Corellia with her at the time. She had first stepped foot in the Bounty Hunter’s Guild a little over a month and a half ago, after she’d decided to sell her medical practice. It had not been a decision she had taken lightly – in spite of her husband’s death, the practice had been a comfortable source of income, but the knowledge that she would never see Chan again and her homeworld had eaten away at her until she could no longer stand living there. 

That and the fact she’d grown increasingly frustrated with the new regulations that the Empire had kept burdening her profession with – her major at the University of Medicine had been exotic species, or in lay man’s terms, aliens. Because of that, her practice had been heavily taxed so that she had to charge her customers higher prices for the same medical procedures that humans paid only a fraction for. Combined with the fact that her patients, unless they were Drall or Selonian happened to work in low paid jobs or forced into unemployment just because of their species, she’d had to send more and more patients away, or treat them for free. That had meant she’d had to buy medical supplies that didn’t work as well on aliens or drugs that weren’t cleared for use on aliens, which meant their use was illegal. The new owners, she knew, had decided to just treat humans and she often wondered what would happen to those who she could no longer care for. 

That the Empire had undermined her chosen profession made her angry, which was just as well as her body language kept the Bounty Hunters at bay. She figured that her demeanour at that moment must have been intimidating enough to keep the more stupid of the 'tough' guy wannabe bounty hunters away. The rest ignored her as though she was too weak for them to notice, something that Shiba was both insulted by and relieved about at the same time. Chan had always told her that the time when a real bounty hunter paid you any attention was the time to start running - it usually meant that someone wanted your head on a platter. A thing he had learnt himself after several encounters.

Now she wouldn't have to worry about that happening to him, at least, but no matter how someone died, it still hurt those left behind.

She continued down the winding, rock lined corridors to the chamber that she had finally ended up going to after her arrival here almost two months ago now. 

The only advantage to selling her business was that it had given her enough credits to buy a ship and live off for a short while, so upon arrival at the Bounty Hunter’s Guild, she had bought a ship and went in search of a partner. Her first point of contact had been Boba Fett, who’d flatly refused her. Though he’d had the reputation as being the most notorious Bounty Hunter in the galaxy, Shiba couldn’t shake the feeling that he was honourable in his own way. He laid out the grim realities of the profession in front of her like the Medical University Surgery Lecturer had laid out a dead Wookiee for them to do an autopsy on. Because she had focused on the idea that it had to be done so she could save lives, she had gotten through it. She used that same determination to get through Boba Fett’s introduction to bounty hunting that was obviously designed to put her off. She thought about what the Empire had done to Alderaan and then about what crimes those who the bounty hunters hunted had committed but escaped justice. It was a fact that some people hunted by bounty hunters didn’t deserve it, the majority did. 

Bossk and Denger, those whom she approached after Boba Fett, didn’t take her seriously; Denger thought a woman should stay out of such professions and Bossk regarded her as weak. That had just sparked a defiance in her that just made her all the more determined to be a bounty hunter, if only she could find someone willing to take her on. Cradossk, the Guild’s leader and the Trandoshan Bossk’s father, had been a little wiser than his son and didn’t dismiss her out of hand and tried to get her to partner with the Gand, Zuckess. Whether it had been because she genuinely thought that Zuckuss didn’t know what he was doing (which was the excuse she’d used), or because she found bugs creepy and just didn’t want to admit it to herself or anyone else, it had been her time to refuse. She’d gone back to Chenlambec again, the Wookiee whom she had bought passage from to get to the Bounty Hunter’s Guild, and he already had a partner, in another human female called Tinian, but he directed her to the bounty hunter, the one with the mysterious past. Now she was on her way to deal with the aftermath of that first meeting with him. Quite a lot of the corridor was hidden in blackness and she couldn't make out if anyone lurking in the shadows. She strained her ears and swallowed her fear. If there was anyone there then she would hear them before she saw them.

"Turn around, slowly," a growl issued from behind her.

Shiba did so, noting a pair of yellow eyes that seemed to float in the darkness. The figure stepped forward and his shape materialised out of the shadows. He wasn't human, that was something Shiba could tell. He had a blaster trained on her; the black fur covering his fingers curled around it betrayed that fact, along with the bare clawed feet. The mask that covered his face made it very difficult to determine what his species was, however.

It was when he tossed a sleeping gas canister that shattered on the wall behind her that Shiba realised her mistake. She had only seconds to dwell on this before the world melted away...

***  
When Shiba came to, she found that her hands and feet were bound.

"Good, you are awake," her mysterious abductor announced as he passed into her view. As before, only his hands and feet were visible, his facial features concealed by the cowl of a black cloak.

Shiba blinked her eyes a couple of times. Her head felt like a herd of stampeding banthas was rioting inside it. She glared at him, her brow creased in a frown.

"Do you always knock your visitors unconscious and tie them up?" she asked haughtily.

"When I get the opportunity. In my profession, it's safer that way. What brings you here, woman of Alderaan?"

"Hey, I never told you -" Shiba’s protest was cut off when he indicated where the top his head would have been if it had been uncovered with a claw on his hand and tossed her Alderaanian Medical Practitioner's permit card onto the floor in front of her.

"It was a rhetorical question. There's only one reason why someone like you would come here. I'll say this now, go back home -"

"Well, that would be kind of difficult, don't you think?" Shiba bit back, angry that he seemed to know more about her than she did about him, and the fact that she was sick of hearing those words, go back home. Even if she wanted to, she never could. The Empire had seen to that.

Unseen in the depths of his cowl, the unknown alien smiled. He liked her impunity, though he didn't want to let her know that yet.

"You wreak of fear, little doctor. You would be better to go back to your old life," he said, hoping to antagonise her a little more. Maybe she would get the message and leave.

"You of all people know that sometimes that is impossible," Shiba replied. Chan was gone, she wanted to scream at him, but she tried to keep her emotions in check. After all, a doctor who couldn’t do that was worse than useless. Then she had to remind herself with a jolt that she wasn’t a doctor anymore. Even if she wanted to, she could never go back to her old practice as it was under different ownership now and she’d spent all of her money on saving this ungrateful alien’s hide.

"How so?"

Shiba had one last trick to try. Chenlambec had mentioned him fighting in the Clone Wars, but she had no proof if that was true, but she had to try it.

"You fought in the Clone Wars..."

Now he was glad that she couldn't see his face, for the statement rattled him a little. No one should know anything about what he had been in his old life. She was not as unintuitive as he had first thought and with this knowledge, could be dangerous. But then, rumours flittered around the galaxy like hawk-bats infested the skies of Coruscant, perhaps he should dig a little deeper before he made his decision about what to do with her.

"Rumours, nothing more," Flik said, trying to deflect her from the truth.

"But you have worked against the Empire before, haven’t you, Flik Sivrak?" she asked, taking another gamble. Whoa, she seemed to be taking a load of those today, but then that was what her life had been like since selling her practice.

Flik pulled the cowl off his head, to reveal his black lupine face and brown chin and neck. His ears swivelled forward.

"I no longer do that kind of work, doctor. I haven't done that for along time," he replied. "I hunt now only for profit, but who's to say that harming the Empire doesn't come into it occasionally?"

Though his words seemed to indicate that he was starting to come around to her way of thinking, his tone was a little dismissive and she was getting tired of playing word games with the Shistavanen wolfman.

“You owe me, Sivrak. You’d be dead now if I’d not saved your life,” Shiba replied, sounding a little more hysterical than she intended. “I lost my ship, and the money I had for your medical treatment. The least you can do is give me a chance.”

She did have a point Flik decided as he considered her outburst. Though he was annoyed at her meddling, she was correct. His old teacher had told him that too much pride was a flaw, though there must be away that he could put her off. He just needed the chance to find it.

"So, you are here to be a bounty hunter, is that correct?"

"Yes, I guess so," Shiba said, a little uncertainly.

"You have to be sure this is what you want. Once you've started, there is no turning back.”

"Yes, that is what I want," Shiba said, with more conviction. 

"That's better," Flik said, a devious expression coming over his face. "But if you want to partner with me, there has to be a trial period first. Meet me in the hanger at docking bay 77 in an hour's time. I will give you the details of my new job there. If we succeed, you'll be my partner, I'll train you. If we fail, you'd better get out of my way pretty fast."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Shiba Black arrived at docking bay 77 at the appointed time. The ship docked there was the strangest she had ever seen and she couldn't recall the name of the ship's type, though she was sure that Chan would have, considering his experience of star ships. She was still none the wiser even after piloting it to the medical facility that had saved Flik’s life. To her surprise, a small laser cannon descended from a concealed panel and swivelled around to face her. 

It was at that moment that the Shistavanen bounty hunter, Flik Sivrak, appeared at the top of the ramp and descended slowly. He glanced at the fearful posture of the human woman and then at the laser cannon pointing towards her. He muttered a Shistavanen obscenity under his breath before whipping out the comlink from the pocket of his jacket; Shiba had noticed he had changed into since their last meeting. 

"Lobo, stow the cannon. I told you we were having visitors," he spoke into it. 

The cannon swivelled round slightly as if it was an eye, regarding him. 

"Lobo," the Shistavanen warned in a low voice with a dangerous undertone. 

The cannon immediately disappeared back into its hidden panel. 

"You must excuse Lobo. He thinks this kind of thing is amusing." 

It took Shiba a moment to recover from her shock. Was he doing this deliberately just to spook her? 

"Yes, I'm sure," Shiba said, trying to sound like it hadn't scared her one bit, but failing miserably. "I accept your apology." 

"Welcome to the Forgotten Warrior, doctor," Flik said. "Now, if you will follow me." 

Shiba adjusted the bag on her shoulder and stared sceptically at the wolfman’s back as they walked up the ramp. She wondered if the wolfman suffered from a personality disorder of some kind. She wasn’t an expert on mental disorders but she had worked as an intern in a mental hospital during her studies on Alderaan and so learned to recognise some of the signs that he had been exhibiting. 

But then, you had to be a little crazy to be a bounty hunter, didn’t you?

Now that’s a scary thought! A psychotic wolfman bounty hunter, at least twenty times stronger than a man, expert in the art of killing and with deadly weapons at his disposal – who’s the insane one?

“So, where’s Lobo?” Shiba asked, thinking that Lobo was a person.

“This is Lobo,” Flik indicated the ship.

“I thought you said the name of the ship was the Forgotten Warrior?”

“I did. Lobo is the ship’s computer, a semi-sentient artificial intelligence.”

“You mean like a droid?”

“Yes. The Forgotten Warrior is a modified Shistavanen scout ship. There aren’t that many left now, thanks to the Empire. The few that do exist belong to smugglers, bounty hunters, mercenaries, maybe a Rebel or two, but mine is the only one with an AI.”

“It is true, I am a rare specimen,” a self-important electronic sounding voice issued from concealed speakers. Shiba took this to be Lobo.

“So why aren’t there anymore, why is this the only one?”

“The AIs proved to be expensive to produce. Lobo is the prototype and they also found flaws within the AI’s personality matrix. The kind of thing you saw just now.”

“He has also proved to be less efficient than a normal computer, but he has been useful on occasion,” Flik continued. “Now, how about the mission, before Lobo develops a superiority complex.”

“That’s strange,” Shiba said, frowning.

“What is?” Flik asked her.

“Lobo. Has he been here all the time? He never said anything to me when I was taking you to the medical facility. I wasn’t even aware there was anything like him on board.”

Now it was the wolfman’s turn to frown. “Lobo, have you been letting people pilot you unchallenged?” he asked the AI. 

“It was only on that one occasion, I assure you. You were badly injured and it seemed like the best chance you had for survival. Mistress Shiba didn’t look like the kind of person who would steal the ship and you did tell me that I was supposed to keep my existence a secret unless the ship was seriously threatened.”

“Mistress Shiba now, is it? Darn AI,” Flik muttered. “I don’t know why I put up with it.”

“You put up with me because I am the most advanced AI ever produced.”

“I put up with you because you came with the ship and I’ve yet to figure out how to wipe you without turning it into scrap metal.”

Shiba had to suppress a smile. 

“Ah, Mistress Shiba, don’t mind him, he’s just a mardy bum.”

“Shut up, Lobo.” 

By the time they had finished their conversation, they had reached a small lounge area of the ship with a table in the middle of which contained a small console and a holoprojector. On three sides of the table were couches set into the ship’s bulkhead. 

Flik rummaged around in the bulkhead cupboards and came out with a set of unappetising looking ration meals and drinks. Though they had all the nutritional content needed, they were deficient on taste and palatability. 

“You’d best get this down you – in this business you eat when ever you can even if you aren’t hungry,” Flik said, passing a tray and a drink’s canister to her.

Shiba accepted them without comment – that’s exactly the same philosophy she’d had to adhere to has a doctor as patients usually picked the most unsociable times to be sick.

Flik sat down on the couch across from her and ripped open the seal of his tray and drink respectively. He called up the holoprojector that nestled in the centre of the table.

“Lobo, bring up the files on the Vork Sarnad murder.”

Lobo did bring up a file, only not the one Flik wanted. The Shistavanen’s face creased in a frown. “Lobo –“ he warned. After about a moment or tow, Lobo brought up the correct file. It showed a Bothan male, which through her experience, Shiba guessed to be around twenty-five to thirty years old. 

“There is some history behind this one and it will take some time to explain. It all starts around the time of the birth of the Empire, on the planet of Naboo, Palpatine’s homeworld. There are two species that make up the majority of Naboo’s population, the native Gungans and humans, who have settled there. Though distrustful of each other and living apart, for the Gungans are an amphibious species and have their cities underwater, they have, for the most part, lived in peace with each other. That was until the death of Senator Amidala at the beginning of the Empire.

“No one knows for sure who started the troubles. Some say that it was the remnants of the Separatists or that it was the Gungans themselves. Personally, I think that Palpatine himself may have ordered it.

“A group of genetic purists, mostly humans, who wanted to rid the planet of aliens, caused the human population to rise up against the Gungans and any other exotic race on the planet. Palpatine sent troopers to Naboo to install what he termed as peace. The Gungan cities were destroyed and the Gungan themselves, along with other exotics were rounded up and forced to live in townships away from the human populations. After a while, human criminals and the jobless were also forced into them, and anyone who objected to the regime.

“Among the criminals, there included were the purists. Even the Empire, though discriminating against exotics as they are, didn’t agree with their methods. Vork Sarnad became the leader of the resistance against the purists around six months ago. He was murdered by a member of the purists and it is our task to find out who that being was and take him out, for the Empire’s investigation into the incident failed to find the assassin and the resistance contacted me in the hope that I could bring them the justice that should have been done. I would have answered their call sooner, accept that I’ve been indisposed.”

They finished what was left of the meal in silence.

***  
"So, what are these for?" Shiba asked, picking up a device that looked like it attached to the wrist. After the briefing, the wolfman had taken her to the cargo hold to go through some basic weapons with her. Upon first entering the cargo bay, she’d noticed a large swoop, similar to a speederbike near the doors, and along one wall were a row of cages that Shiba suspected the wolfman used for hauling prisoners. 

He’d walked over to the opposite wall and placed his hand on a sensor that Shiba took to be a DNA reading device and part of what looked to be the bulkhead descended to reveal a host of weapons, some high tech and others which looked like they wouldn’t have been out of place in a slaughter house.

"Those, are wrist rockets and you need to know what you're doing with them so that you don't accidentally blow your arm off," Flik replied. "This is much better for a beginner." He tossed her a small hand pistol. Shiba caught it clumsily and shot him a look. 

"I thought you said I had to be careful with these?" she indicated the wrist rockets. 

"You do, for aiming them, but that thing’s not loaded. I never keep any weapon of that type loaded when I store it. You never know when someone will try to break in here, especially the bounty hunter you are supposed to be working with. Some, like the Wookiee Chenlambec who brought you here hold honour in the hunt over everything else and wouldn't consider double crossing you if he hadn't been betrayed first. The majority, however, wouldn't think twice about it - the less people they have to split the bounty between, the more they get. But these are usually dumb, anyway, apart from Boba Fett," he gave Shiba a look of scrutiny. "It remains to be seen which category you fall into." 

"So the pistol doesn't even have a power pack in it," Shiba guessed. 

The wolfman nodded his fur-covered head in affirmation. 

"Besides, the wrist rockets take a lot of skill to aim properly." 

Shiba absorbed this. It was true, she was unqualified to use most of these weapons in here, what with Alderaan having a ban on weapons. It had been a useless gesture of security, however, when the Death Star turned the planet to dust. 

He caught her look of uncertainty. "Don't worry, if you have the knowledge to save life, you also have the knowledge to take it, if need be, doctor." 

That is not a very comforting thought. 

"My personal preference is the Ryyk blade over there, given to me by Chenlambec after we went on a hunt together. It never runs out of ammo, you can hardly ever miss with it; it is a weapon of honour. But you can't always trust on the guy who's shooting at you to have the same sense of honour, so you too must have surprises in reserve," he handed her a brace of vibroblades. 

"There's a but, coming here, I think." 

"You can't always rely on physical weapons, doctor. They can break; they can run out of ammo, they can be made useless by electronic fields. For this reason alone, you must always have a weapon in reserve when you don't have one. Have you ever heard of Teras Kasi?" 

"I've heard it mentioned a few times, but I've never actually practised it," Shiba replied. 

Flik's muzzle creased in an amused grin. "Then, perhaps, doctor, it is time you did." 

“Don’t you need to be Force sensitive to be able to do that?” Shiba asked.

The look on the wolfman’s face suggested that he was hiding something from her. “To become a master of it, yes. But you don’t need the Force to learn the basic moves,” with a note of caution in his voice, he added, “The Empire doesn’t take kindly to talk of the Force. You have no knowledge of its existence for your own safety.”

Shiba nodded. “I know talk of it is dangerous.”

The wolfman’s muzzle creased in a snarl. “Then don’t mention it again.”

He took her through a series basic postures in Teras Kasi. When she didn’t get a posture quite right, he methodically put her right with a patience Shiba didn’t know he possessed. Shiba had been tense at first, especially when he went into her personal space to guide her limbs into the right position. His touch, though, wasn’t too intimate and she soon relaxed into it. He made her go through the postures a number of times until she completed them without assistance.

“Good. We’ll go through them together one more time and then we’ll do some basic self-defence with the postures as a guide,” he said.

Shiba nodded. During the practice session, she had noticed a change come over the wolfman and for the first time she saw him as a man, not as an alien bounty hunter. This realisation frightened her a little because she never knew these feelings towards him existed. She also noticed a curious shyness about him that he’d never displayed before. 

“Are you going to do this, or are you just going to stand there?” he asked, his voice cutting through her thoughts. 

“Yes, I’m sorry,” Shiba said, “I was just thinking, that’s all.”

“Well don’t. Such distractions can get you killed,” he said, brusquely.

As they went through the postures one last time, Shiba couldn’t help but steal a glance at him from time to time. She realised that this brutish act he employed was just that; an act. Once they’d passed through the postures, he was calm again.

“Now we’ll spend some time on self-defence,” he said, stripping off the t-shirt he’d been wearing. She noted that the scar on his chest where he’d been injured was still visible, even though the dark brown fur that ran down from under his chin to his belly had started to grow back. Taking his cue, Shiba took off her long-sleeved tunic to reveal the sleeveless top that she wore underneath. She was starting to get quite hot.

Shiba employed the postures that Flik had just taught her as they alternated roles between attacker and defender. She spent more time on the deck at first than she did in succeeding in blocking and countering his moves. In spite of this, she was still enjoying the training, as the same mood that had come over them before settled on them again. Even when she was sore and bruised, he still insisted on her practicing until she made him hit the deck.

“Finally,” Shiba said, wiping the sweat off her forehead, looking down at him.

“That’s good,” he said, panting. “You’ve made progress faster than I thought you would. I think it’s time we called it a day.”

“I think you’re right,” Shiba said, turning her back to retrieve her tunic. Before she knew what was happening, Shiba found herself on the floor with him. As she turned around to glare at him, Flik let out a hearty roar of genuine laughter, which got her laughing too.

“Just one more thing to learn today, doctor,” he said, “Never turn your back on an enemy, even if he looks defeated!”

Shiba leaned forward and kissed him, which took them both by surprise. To cover her shock, and to make him think it was deliberate, Shiba said, “And you, bounty hunter, should be aware that there are more ways to conquer your enemy than by fighting alone.”


	3. Chapter 3

Shiba stretched out her aching muscles. Flik Sivrak was a hard taskmaster when it came to training, even if had proven quite interesting in the end. She had picked up the basics of Teras Kasi quite well, as she did saundo, a series of exercises that controlled breathing while taking the body through a series of poses that tested the body's balance. She had started to do it while partaking in her studies as they had helped boost her concentration, memory and calming her nerves, something that was useful when taking the stressful examinations. It had also given her body flexibility and strength, which was why she had picked Teras Kasi up so quickly. There was no way she could match the wolfman's weight and power, though. 

She needed more practice with weapons, however, in particular blaster pistols and rifles, because of the aim. 

They were now on their way to Naboo and Flik had told her to get some rest, something that Shiba was glad to do; there was very little chance of getting rest once the mission started and after working as a doctor, she was quite used to snatching time for rest at any opportunity that presented itself to her. 

Before she settled down, she took out the holo of her daughter, Jeana and wondered for the thousandth time since leaving her and her brother behind on Corellia in the care of a friend if she had done the right thing. Her son was still only a baby and she missed them both terribly. But then she thought of the reason why she was doing this; Alderaan deserved justice, her husband, her family and her friends deserved it; the patients deprived of the life saving skills of the Alderaanian trained doctors deserved it. While the Empire existed, her children were far from safe. 

She put the holo back into her bag, which contained changes of clothes and some medical supplies – she’d decided on packing those since last time she’d been on board the Forgotten Warrior, she’d found next to nothing that could be used to treat wounds and such, and she’d often wondered just how she’d managed to save the wolfman’s life that way. At one point, she’d even thought she’d lost him as his breathing slowed and his heart rate had been almost undetectable. 

Shiba lowered herself on to the bunk that served as a bed; it was little more than a metal board with a pillow and a sheet. The events in the cargo bay ran through her mind in a loop, ending with the kiss. Had that been why she had placed that tracer on the Forgotten Warrior and tracked the wolfman? She didn’t think so. 

She turned over on to her side in a bid to chase those thoughts from her mind, but they kept chasing each other around. Sometimes, when an operation had gone badly or on the eve of a critical exam or after one, she’d had nights like this, where her thoughts ran amok, refusing to let her wind down so that she could sleep. Eventually, she knew that she would drop off, even if it took along time to do so. 

This is silly, she told herself. There’s nothing real there, just my body reacting to certain stimuli – I’m a doctor, you’d think I should know that!

But she wasn’t a doctor anymore, now she was a bounty hunter, albeit one in training. 

Oh for heaven’s sake, woman, you don’t think that he’s thinking about you right now! Besides, it was just a stupid kiss. They don’t always mean something.

Of course, if she had seen the wolfman at that moment, she wouldn’t be trying to convince herself to commit to self-denial.

***  
While Shiba was getting some rest, Flik Sivrak was sat in the cockpit, remembering...He stared at the holo of his lost mate, Auoura in his claws. After losing her he swore he would never love again, and that vow had led him to his current occupation in life.

"You can't dwell on the past forever, Shirak," the electronic voice of Lobo issued from the speakers.

"I told you not to call me that anymore. I no longer go by that name," Flik said, annoyed. He didn't want to be reminded of that time, of what he once was, what he had abandoned.

The AI ignored him and continued, "She is gone, now and nothing can bring her back but that is no reason to -"

"Ya think? Now I wished I'd wiped your memory when I meant to - "

As if in answer, Lobo projected a holo of the wolfman and the human woman training in what was the Forgotten Warrior's hold.

Flik shock his furry head and a low growl, the Shistavanen equivalent of laughter issued from his throat. "Not likely, Lobo," he replied, knowing what the AI was getting at. "She's human...besides, even if it was a Shistavanen lupa in there, I wouldn't bother."

"If it's because you'd feel guilty - "

"Faithfulness to Auoura is not what's in question, Lobo, though it is a valid reason - it just won't ever happen."

”You seem to get on well,” the AI commented. Flik watched as the hologram showed him standing close behind Shiba, correcting the angle of her arm in that particular posture of Teras Kasi. It brought a memory of that moment back to his mind, he remembered her feminine scent. His mind’s eye then shifted to the kiss she had planted on him in the cargo hold, rousing emotions he had thought long forgotten.

“There had to be something there to begin with,” Lobo’s electronic voice broke into his thoughts. “Otherwise, why would she follow you even after you’d told her to go?”

“She just wants vengeance on the Empire, Lobo, because it took her husband and destroyed her life.”

“See,” Lobo said, a little too brightly, in that tone that really annoyed Flik. “You have something in common already.”

He’d already seen Auoura dead, he silently reminded himself. Even if he did let that barrier come down, there was no guarantee that it wouldn’t happen again.   
He put all the abhorrence he could muster into his voice and hoped that would get though to the AI. “Drop it, Lobo. I don’t want to hear anymore on the subject.” 

Lobo shut down the 3D hologram. As the image of Shiba disappeared, he almost regretted his stubbornness. To cover up for that, he said, "You make a lousier dating agency than you do a ship's computer, Lobo, and that's something."

After a few moments of quiet contemplation of his dead mate’s image, Flik rouse from the pilot’s seat, gave a loud yawn and stretched, allowing his finger tips to touch the ceiling of the cockpit. He felt the knotted tension in his back muscles ease out. Maybe it had just been too long since the last time he had spent time with a lupa, he decided, and perhaps he should seek one out when this mission was over.

“Lobo, I’m going to my cabin now. Wake me up a couple of hours before we hit Naboo.”

“Will do,” the AI simply replied.

Flik took a last look at Auoura’s holo and considered taking it with him, but he left it where it was and exited the cockpit. 

The route to his cabin passed Shiba’s and at the scent of her, he paused outside the door, wondering if he should go in. Though it was tempting and took a lot of his will power, Flik decided against it, and passed her cabin by.

***  
"The human is awake," Lobo announced. 

"Good, unlock the door to the cabin after fifteen minutes. We'll be coming out of hyperspace in just over thirty. I need to get my gear sorted."

Part of the reason he was leaving the door locked for that length of time was to make her give up on becoming a bounty hunter and leave; Lobo's pronouncement earlier had made him uncomfortable. The last thing he needed was that kind of distraction. He had gotten Auoura killed, and he wasn't about to go through it again anytime soon if he had any say in it. The observations he'd made of human females throughout his whole life was that the worse you treated them, the more likely it was that they would up and leave.

What he didn't figure on was the fact that Shiba was one stubborn girl and that the more he disregarded her, the more determined she became to be a bounty hunter, so flawed was his logic...

He went down to the hold where he stored the weapons. He chose the usual ones he always carried; the wrist rockets, a vibroblade or two, Chenlambec's Ryyk blade, a very boring (in his opinion) run of the mill blaster pistol and a special weapon that he kept locked away.

All the time he was down there, his thoughts were on Shiba, thoughts that he didn't want to have.

He was on his way back to the cockpit when he bumped into a very irate Shiba Black. "So, I bet you thought that was very funny, then," she yelled at him, unmindful of the weapons he had strapped to him.

Flik tried to look at her with an innocent expression, but failing miserably as there was nothing innocent about the thoughts he'd been having about her in the hold. "I don't do funny," he said, calmly.

"Ok, so you did it just to irritate me, then," Shiba snapped.

"Did what?" he asked, trying to sound like he didn't know what she was talking about, but knew perfectly well.

"Locked the door!"

"It's probably Lobo just messing around again. You'd better get your weapons ready and head up to the heavy blaster cannon. We'll be coming out of hyperspace in twelve minutes."

Shiba gave him a mock salute before ducking back into her cabin, making sure that the door stayed open this time to retrieve her weapons. "You'll be needing this," Flik handed her the power pack that was missing from the pistol he had given her earlier.

Shiba glared at him as he continued on his way to the cockpit.

***  
"She must like you," Lobo said, on Flik's arrival back in the cockpit.

"More likely that she despises my guts," Flik replied as he sat down in the pilot's chair.

"She wouldn't - "

"Not another word, Lobo," Flik said, as he fastened the crash webbing over his broad chest. "Or I'll disable your voice circuits."

That had the desired effect as Flik turned his attention on to the countdown to reversion into real space.

"On the second we emerge from hyperspace, initiate the cloaking device. I don't want the Imperials to know that we are here," Flik ordered the AI.

Unlike most cloaking devices, the one on the Forgotten Warrior allowed the ship to travel undetected. Most ships with cloaking devices had to stay still, however, to remain undetected, the use of weapons was a no. Flik opened an internal channel to see if Shiba was strapped in the heavy blaster cannon station.

"Are you there, yet?" Flik asked.

"Strapped in and ready to go."

"Just one thing - don't open fire on anything unless I give the order."

Shiba's answer was a rather unlady like snort that said, do I have to take orders from you, now?

Sensing her reluctance, Flik added, "It's important. I'll explain later."

"Is there anything else you've neglected to tell me?"

"Yeah, plenty. All will be revealed in time."

"Why aren't I surprised, Sivrak?"


	4. Chapter 4

The Forgotten Warrior landed without incident in the swamps of Naboo. Flik found a relatively stable and dry spot to put her down and they disembarked from the Shistavanen Scout ship.

"So, are you going to tell me everything or am I going to have to shoot you?" Shiba asked, levelling the blaster pistol at the wolfman while his back was turned to her.

An amused growl emitted from his throat as he turned round to face her. He wasn't scared one bit - he knew that if she were going to kill him, she would have shot him in the back while he was turned away from her. When he regarded her expression, however, he discovered how serious she was.

"What do you want to know?" he asked.

"Why you didn't want me to shoot at anything for a start. I mean, are you some kind of Imperial spy, or something? What is the plan to get this guy who killed the Bothan, anyway? Oh, and how much is this bounty?"

"Is that all? Let me get some things straight, doctor. First, I don't have to tell you anything I don't think you need to know. Second, this is my mission. Third, I could have killed you before now and you should think yourself lucky that I haven't; most bounty hunters would have, including the better ones; that's what makes them the best," he snatched the pistol off her as he spoke and gripped her chin in his other hand, his claws digging into her flesh, his lupine eyes and canines uncomfortably close to her face. "My past is none of your business. I have reason to despise the Empire just as much as you do."

He pushed her backwards and Shiba tripped and fell into the shallow water and mud of the swamp behind her. The wolfman snapped off a sharp bark before he stalked back up the boarding ramp.

***  
Several minutes later, Flik emerged from a larger hatch than the boarding ramp on the back of a swoop. He used the lowest speed to bring it out of the ship and brought it to a halt several metres from the Forgotten Warrior.

He slid off the swoop and landed with a splash in the shallow, muddy water of the swamp. He trudged through the water and up on to the dry land on which the Forgotten Warrior rested on. Shiba had gotten out of the water and was trying to brush off the mud that had soiled her clothes.

"You expect me to ride on that thing?" she asked.

Flik wrinkled his muzzle. "Beats walking, which you could do if you wanted to - accept I have the map to the place we need to go. Once we get there, I'll tell you what you need to know, all of it."

"Ok, you win, this time. But I'd still like to know why you didn't want me to shoot at anything on the way down."

Flik decided that he owed her that much. "The Forgotten Warrior has a cloaking device that can be used while the ship is in motion. All Shistavanen Scout ships possess them, which is why the Empire outlawed their use. However, they only work once you've come out of hyperspace and you have to make sure that no one's detected you before you initiate the cloak - otherwise it's useless. Of course, there's also the danger of someone crashing into you, which is why you have to avoid busy space lanes."

"Makes sense, I guess. Can I have my pistol back?"

Flik tossed it to her, their earlier argument forgotten. He then took out his comlink to communicate with Lobo.

"Lobo, close up the hatches and activate the cloaking device. Lock everything down and don't let anyone know your presence unless they discover you by accident. I'll let you know when we're coming back."

Lobo complied and the ship disappeared before Shiba's eyes. As he walked back to the waiting swoop, Flik had to wonder if his earlier thoughts about the Alderaanian woman were effecting his judgement.

***  
Shiba's clothes and hair soon dried in the wind generated by the high-speed movement of the swoop through the swampland. Water was displaced as they passed over it and they did startle a herd of famba and kadu in their passage through the swamp.

To avoid falling off, Shiba had to cling on to the wolfman as he navigated through the mist. The mist and the close growth of the mangrove trees made visibility poor, and Shiba wondered just how Flik managed to avoid crashing into any of the thick bowels of the trees. She knew that Shistavanens possessed a tapetum lucidium, a reflective layer of cells on the retina of their eyes, that allowed them to see better in the dark than humans, but there was something else at work here too. It just seemed eerie.

They arrived at Theed just in time to see the sun set over the water. In spite of the Empire, it appeared that Theed had changed little since the time of the Old Republic. The Theed Palace was still there, looking as glorious as ever in the distance. The red brick walled arches, the town houses and the splendid flowers and foliage that marked the Naboo's appreciation of nature was still in evident - very much still an organic world, unlike many of the planets that Palpatine's corrupted hand had touched. In many ways, Theed reminded Shiba of the many cities and towns of Alderaan, very much urbanised but with a respect and love of nature and beautiful architecture.

Flik brought the swoop to a halt in the streets at the edge of the city. He turned and said to Shiba, "We walk from here."

Shiba nodded and slid to the ground. Flik pulled out the electronic key that activated the swoop and stood next to her.

"I thought you said that the townships were away from human populations?" Shiba asked.

"Most are, but the one that was built near Theed as since been absorbed into the city, because of it's expansion, but kept apart from the rest of it because it's on an island in the canal waterways, to keep people in. It is, for obvious reasons, as far away from the Theed Palace as it's possible to get."

"So, that's where we're heading now?"

Flik nodded his furry head.

“First, hand me your weapons.”

Shiba looked at him, distrust in her eyes.

“It’s important,” Flik said, producing a large case from a compartment inside the swoop’s side panel. It was just long enough to conceal Chenlambec’s Ryyk blade. “If we are to get past the Stormtroopers, we will need to conceal our weapons,” he explained.

Reluctantly, Shiba handed them over to him and to her surprise, all of their arsenal fitted neatly inside. “It has an electric field that will hide our weapons from detection.”

“Won’t they take it from us anyway?” Shiba asked.

“That’s a risk we have to take, but this will be better for us, believe me.”

Strangely, Shiba found that she did.

It was a thirty-minute walk to the canal docks. In their journey, Shiba noticed that what had seemed like a normal city, was, in fact the wrong impression. Everywhere they went, Flik drew suspicious looks from the inhabitants, because of his species. Shiba herself, was scowled at, but she couldn't tell if that was because she was with the wolfman or because of the clothes she was wearing. There was a distinct aura of fear and mistrust in the city and not just because of the wolfman. This was generated by the numerous squads of Stormtroopers that patrolled the streets of the city. Rarer, was the occasional duo of guards clad in scarlet armour, and their presence sent a shudder down the wolfman's spine, as he remembered an incident long ago involving them. The first squad of Stormtroopers they found forced them to join a group of dejected looking Gungans and other exotics towards the canal.

It was then that Shiba wondered how, when they got the mission completed, just how the hell were they ever going to get back to the ship and off the planet without getting blown to pieces in the process. She stole a glance at her companion and noticed that he was thinking the same thing. What had seemed like a simple job had turned out to be far more dangerous than either of them had ever imagined.


	5. Chapter 5

The first thing that Shiba noticed as she and Flik were being ferried across to the prison city was that most of their fellow passengers were non-human, the majority of them being the Gungans that Flik had told her were the original inhabitants of Naboo. Because of the disparity concerning the proportion of prisoners that were human, Shiba began to wonder just how “effective” the system was in imprisoning human criminals. She glanced at the wolfman beside her and suppressed the impulse to discuss it with him. Just even doing that caused the human prisoners to glare at her, but the threat of the nearby Stormtroopers kept the peace and for once, Shiba was glad of their presence.

Thinking on the matter further, Shiba concluded that the reason the Gungans out numbered the humans simply because virtually all of them where now residing in these prisons, their crime, just being born a Gungan. It made sense, in a terribly twisted sort of way. Having the Gungans banged up like this made it virtually impossible for free Gungans and their human sympathisers to incite open rebellion without the beings they were trying to free being slaughtered outright, as having them all together in a few locations would make eliminating those they were trying to save relatively easy. 

Shiba’s thoughts were interrupted with the cut off from the engine. She gave Flik an apprehensive look. A human male wearing an Imperial uniform, appeared at the now open hatch and began directing the Stormtroopers to remove the prisoners from the ship. Shiba soon began to notice a pattern: the non-human prisoners were being separated from the humans.

She gave Flik a concerned look: he might be a pain to have around, but at that moment in time she trusted him above the Imperials. They had destroyed their homeworld, right? Shiba didn’t want to be separated from him. Flik shook his head at her. It was best to go along with it for now and try to hook up with each other later. To resist would invite reprisals that could end their lives. Shiba watched helplessly as he was made to join the other non-humans. With relief, Shiba noticed that he was allowed to keep the shielded equipment box. Still even that small victory was of little consolation as the Imperial Officer turned his attention to her.

Obediently, Shiba stood as directed and followed the orders of the Stormtroopers. She stepped out into a processing area, similar to that which she came across when entering a public spaceport. She noticed that the non-humans were being forced to go through a different set of terminals to the humans. She caught a glimpse of Flik among the sea of Gungans. Being the only Shistavanen, he stood out in the crowd. He seemed to sense her eyes on him and turned to look briefly at her before he disappeared into the booth. Shiba felt the business end of a blaster rifle prod her in the back and she moved forward, towards the processing booth on the human side that was at that moment empty. Shiba’s stomach knotted with nervousness.

***  
After going through the processing booth, much to Flik’s surprise, he was allowed to go his own way. He waited for Shiba to emerge, but after thirty minutes of waiting, and no sign of Shiba, he could see that the Stormtroopers that guarded the terminals were getting anxious at his loitering. Rather than stay and cause a confrontation, Flik decided that it was time to move on.

Flik didn’t know whether to count the forced separation from Shiba a blessing or not. He had wanted to be rid of her, right? At that moment, it seemed so easy for him to just forget about her. Besides, he had a mission to complete, and it would be best done without her in the way. He’d not wanted to hook up with her from the beginning. However, the last look she’d given him before he’d entered the processing booth haunted him, and guilt started to gnaw at his conscience. Shiba had given up a lot to save his life on his previous mission. Though he wouldn’t admit it to the woman, he enjoyed her company. Even as that thought came to him, he heard Lobo’s voice in his mind about them having feelings for each other. He chased that thought away, putting it down to his loneliness since Auoura’s and Tek’s deaths.

Still, abandoning Shiba just didn’t feel right. He resolved to find her and get her off Naboo, even if after the mission they went their separate ways, which Flik still endeavoured to convince her of. A Bounty Hunter’s life was not for her, he sensed that from the moment she’d first contacted him. 

You soft headed fool, it’s not the life you want either, he thought.

Then if Auoura and Tek hadn’t have died, he wouldn’t be living the life of a Bounty Hunter either. He couldn’t fault her for thinking it was the right path for her after what the Empire had done to her homeworld. The fates, if they existed, had a cruel way of manipulating one’s destiny.

First, however, before he could even think of trying to find Shiba, he had to find a place to stow his belongings, and visit his contact. Then he’d be free to discover where Shiba had been taken and go to her. 

The prison town, for that was what it was, seemed normal. But that in itself gave the place a more sinister air. In his search for a place to stay, Flik passed several Stormtrooper squads – there to keep the “peace” no doubt. Flik tried to stay out of their way as much as possible. Aside from the Stormtroopers, he encountered very few humans. The wolfman figured that for the most part, the Empire kept the human and alien population apart. He wondered if it was to keep the different factions from fighting with each other, or if there was something else behind it. Either way, peace was most likely just a fortunate side effect, rather than being the main reason for the segregation. 

Eventually, he did find a place to stay, a rather dingy looking cantina that also rented out rooms. Its owner was a Gungan. Flik understood just enough of the broken basic that was Gunganese, to do business with the Gungan. 

Flik found it quite ironic in some respects, that even though the island was a prison, it gave the illusion of freedom. But that was the whole point, wasn’t it? Delude the populace into thinking that they lived free lives when in fact their lives were controlled. Evidently, someone somewhere had the idea that the illusion of freedom was the best way of keeping the peace, if indeed; you could have genuine peace without freedom. Oppression comes in many forms, the most effective being that which isn’t even recognised as oppression, if it brings with it pseudo liberty. 

Flik spent the early evening unpacking the weapons that he had managed to smuggle onto the island. His thoughts turned to Shiba again when he came upon the blaster pistol he had given her just before they landed on Naboo. He even missed her arguing with him. He shook his furry head before placing the pistol to one side. It was just loneliness, he tried to delude himself, especially that for female company. Ever since Auoura had died...

He pounded his fist into the nearby wall in frustration, causing the already crumbling plaster to cave in where he connected with it. 

He would visit the contact in the morning, as it was getting late. Before the Stormtroopers had let him go on his way, their commander had warned him about the marshal law that had been put into place to curb any likely rebellion by the island’s inhabitants. That didn’t mean that he couldn’t go down to the bar. He located a pair of vibroblades that he’d stowed into the box earlier and concealed them, one hanging from the belt at his waist, hidden from view by his jacket, and the other strapped to his right leg.

Taking no chances, he locked the door to his room and made his way down the stairs to the bar. He figured that by spending time in the bar that he might uncover some valuable local information, perhaps even the likely location where Shiba had been taken. His muzzle creased in bitter amusement – there he was, thinking of her again...

It’s time to settle this, he thought. Perhaps if he didn’t find out anything useful, he would at least find some female company to divert his attention from the Alderaanian woman. However, within moments of entering the bar, he found that his hopes for that were squashed as the bar consisted of mostly males of varying different species and the only females present were Gungans. He was far from bigoted when it came to females from other species, but he only found sentient mammalian females interesting in that sense. 

He ordered Lomin ale at the bar and he settled down at an unoccupied table once the drink was in his possession. At least there was still the possibility of gauging some local information. To his disappointment, he found that the other patrons gave him a wide berth – he suspected that was because of his species – Shistavanens can be intimidating to others because of their predatory appearance. On his second round of Lomin ale, Flik gave up because he found the accent of the Gungans grated on his nerves, and their conversations difficult to follow. After he drained his glass, Flik rose from his seat and returned to the preferred solitude of his room.

***  
The first rays of light creeping in through the gaps in the curtains woke Flik from his slumber. Before he dressed, the wolfman went through those same series of exercises he’d taught Shiba to help banish the sluggishness from his body. Today, he would make contact with Rhinda Sarnad, the wife of the late Vork Sarnad. It had been she who had contacted him all those weeks ago. 

Shiba’s absence crossed his mind as he dressed and chose the least threatening of his weapons to take with him, a blaster and a vibroblade. Perhaps Rhinda would have some idea of where Shiba might have been taken; whether she did, or not, the problem of getting her back remained the same. A good look around the shorting port might reveal something, but for that, he would have to wait for darkness...

Once he was ready, Flik secured the room and left the cantina. 

By mid morning, Flik had found Rhinda’s home, a small, red brick house that was common for the human inhabitants of Naboo to inhabit. The house had seen better days, but he’d come across worse in his travels, most notably Nar Shaddaa. However, it still retained the affluent look it had possessed when new, most of its imperfections due to age, rather than neglect, and even possessed a small garden, even if weeds had started to poke through the once carefully tended flower beds. Some how, the normality and picturesque look of the place made the knowledge that Rhinda and people like her lived in a prison take on a more sinister tone than it would have been if the place had been a slum.

Flik was about halfway down the path when a protocol droid appeared. It had seen him and started walking towards him. The droid uttered the usual greeting of “I am H-3PX, human-cyborg relations. How may I be of service, sir?”

“I am Flik Sivrak,” Flik replied. “I am here to see your mistress, Rhinda Sarnad. I believe she has a contract with me.”

The droid gave him a polite, if stiff bow. “My mistress is expecting you. This way, please.”

Flik followed the droid a step or two behind. It led him around the back of the small house. Standing in the back garden was a short Bothan woman, with violet eyes and black fur. She was wearing a dark blue dress which extended all the way down to her feet. Even after all this time, it appeared that formal dress was still in fashion on Naboo. It reminded Flik of happier, more peaceful times, which only served to make the current situation on Naboo, if not the galaxy at large, seem that much darker.

“Mistress Rhinda, may I present to you Master Sivrak,” H-3PX said to the Bothan. 

“Thank you, H-3PX,” Rhinda said to the droid. “You are free to leave us now.”

“Of course, Mistress,” the droid bowed politely and returned back the way it had come. Flik was happy to see it gone – the prissiness of protocol droids grated on him sometimes, which was why he’d never had a droid, (other than Lobo, if he could be called that) on his ship.

“It is good to meet you at last, Sivrak,” Rhinda said to the wolfman once the droid had disappeared. “We’d be better off talking inside the house.”

“Of course,” Flik inclined his head in agreement and followed the Bothan woman into her house. 

Once they were seated in the lounge, the Bothan woman let out a sigh. “I was beginning to wonder if you would ever turn up, bounty hunter,” she said. Suddenly, she looked weary, which was no surprise to Flik, since she was still grieving the loss of her husband.

“My last contract didn’t go as well as I planned, and as such, I’ve been recuperating from injury,” Flik replied, an injury that would have killed him had it not been for Shiba’s intervention. “Could you tell me more about the circumstances surrounding your husband’s death?”

“I believe that it was Janos Teff who killed my husband; at least he seems to be the most likely candidate from what Vork’s associates told me. Teff is the leader of the purists. However, he is also the brother of Jessa Endeel, the wife of Marcus Endeel, the overseer of the prison townships on Naboo.”

“So, the lack of Imperial investigation into your husband’s death is down to this family tie?” Flik asked.

“I believe so, yes, though I suspect it is also due to the anti-alien sentiment which exists within the Empire as well,” Rhinda replied. “Vork had been holding public rallies for sometime, trying to get support from the exotics population for his movement to free non-human who had no criminal record and political prisoners from the townships. Of course, the Imperials refused to listen to him and that was when the violence really began, fueled in part by frustration because of his failure to get the Imperials to listen and by the purists. I believe that Endeel saw my husband has a threat to him and had him killed. If his murder was investigated, Endeel’s corruption will be exposed as well.”

“It certainly appears to be that way,” Flik told her. “Keep your suspicions to yourself, or you could find yourself to be their next target.”

“That is why I contacted you for your assistance,” Rhinda replied. “As I think an outsider is the only person I could trust with this – not that Vork’s associates are not trustworthy, but Teff has them watched all the time now.”

“Have your husband’s associates given you any evidence of who is your husband’s killer?”

“I have a collection of holocubes and data discs. They are hidden away – I will have to gather them together for you.”

“That would be appreciated, Rhinda. However, before I can begin my investigation, I need to discover the whereabouts of my partner for this mission,” Flik said and explained what had happened when he and Shiba had arrived on the island.


	6. Chapter 6

After his meeting with Rhinda, which lasted until midday, Flik returned to the cantina. Feeling hungry, he decided to risk sampling the roasted nerf served at midday. Normally, he would have eaten elsewhere, as he didn’t want possible enemies to find him easily when he was on a job. Over the five years since he’d become a bounty hunter, Flik and even in the years before then, he’d learnt the value of being hard to track. As it was, he needed time to plan his next move based on the information Rhinda had provided. 

When the food arrived, Flik decided that he’d had worse in his time, but eating alone made him miss the hunts he and Auoura had participated in, and Tek, when he’d been old enough to accompany them. It hadn’t been for criminals and other assorted scum like he did now, but for food. He was Shistavanen, after all...

Once he’d finished his meal, Flik went to the rented room upstairs and inspected the items Rhinda had given to him to help him infiltrate the purist’s stronghold. They were a holographic belt that would disguise his appearance and a voice modulator. He tested them, to make sure that they worked and he found no problems with them. He deposited them with the rest of his equipment and locked them away. He checked his chrono and found that it was now an hour past midday. Given the nocturnal activities he had planned to discover the likely whereabouts and if things went well, the rescue of Shiba, Flik decided that it would be wise to get some rest while he had the opportunity.

***  
Flik woke a few hours later. Thinking about Auoura and Tek while he’d eaten his lunch had been a bad idea, for their memory, or more specifically, the memory of their deaths had invaded his dreams. Before he realised what he was doing, Flik had walked over to the box that stored his equipment and had the black cylinder in his hands. He pressed the activation button and the green blade sprang to life in front of him with a snap-hiss. As he stared at the blade, he recalled that day when he’d finished the burial cairn of stones, under which laid the body of Auoura ...

Tek’s body, he’d never been able to recover. After he’d laid the last stone in place, Flik had stood back to look at his work. He howled his grief to the sea wind, until his howl seemed to merge with it and the sound of the waves. He recalled how the wind had snagged at his Jedi robes as he walked back to the home he’d shared with Auoura and Tek for the last decade, the one that was now empty without them. 

It had seemed that the wind itself had known what thoughts had been passing through his mind that day, that his life as a Jedi, the one that had taken everything away had now come to an end. Even after leaving the Order to be with Auoura, he’d not stopped being a Jedi. How could have been so stupid to think that he could have taught Tek the ways of the Jedi and expected him not to fall to the darkside when he himself had failed?

As he entered the hidden fortress that Flik’s grandfather had built to safeguard his mother when her life had been threatened by his rivals, Flik made his decision. Once he reached his quarters, the ones that was so empty without his Auoura, Flik began removing his Jedi robes and carefully packed them away, as if one day, he did indeed intend to come back to them again, though at that particular moment, the wolfman would have been glad never to set eyes on the things again. He swapped the Jedi robes for civilian clothing and sat down on the edge of the bed, his mind in turmoil. He’d never made a good Jedi, he reminded himself, at least not in the eyes of the Council that was more dust and bones than his dead wife out there. The reason for that? He’d never been able to let go of his “attachments”, at least the ones that he considered important, the ones that the Council had been most adamant that no Jedi should have. Now, because he’d not been able to let go of his life as a Jedi, he’d gotten both Auoura and Tek killed. 

Sometime passed before Flik had gone in search of the caretaker droid Auoura had persuaded him to get to maintain the place. He’d told the droid of his intention to leave. When the droid asked when he’d be back, Flik had replied, “It is unlikely.”

Did he regret turning away from his life as a Jedi? Perhaps...What had occurred back hen was he very reason he couldn’t let Shiba get too close to him – he didn’t want to lose anyone he cared about like that again...

***  
From Rhinda’s information about what happened to human females when they were brought in, she should be held at the prison governor’s villa. It wasn’t that hard for him to find, as Flik had seen the monstrosity when he’d first arrived. Even if he hadn’t, all he would have to do is find the largest and most pompous looking homestead and he would have found it. Despite the beauty of Naboo, Flik couldn’t help but feel that the human population over did it. He remembered from the days of his being a Jedi, the grandeur of the Senate and though he’d not really thought of it in the same way back then, he couldn’t help but look upon it all differently now. He’d soon changed his perception of it when he saw first hand how the normal people of the galaxy were forced to exist, while their leaders squandered money on appearances. If the Trade Federation hadn’t have been part of the Separatists, Flik wouldn’t have blamed those worlds which joined them, thinking that the Separatists had been the solution to their problems...

Flik turned his thoughts back to the task at hand. The Governor’s Villa might be easy to find, but he still had the problem of how to get in. He’d waited until nightfall before making his move and the darkness did help him conceal himself. However, there was no doubt that the Villa would have some protection against intruders and he had to assume that the place was surrounded by infra red holocams at least as they would detect his heat signature. There were some things in his favour, though. Apparently, the current Queen of Naboo had forbidden the use of the most destructive Imperial weapons and vehicles to be used on Naboo, which surprisingly, the Emperor hadn’t objected to. Perhaps it was down o the fact that Naboo was Palpatine’s homeworld and he looked upon it more favourably than others, or more likely, it could have been that he saw little threat to the Empire originating from Naboo.

For once, Flik would only have to worry about the guards, which was fine by him, but that didn’t mean it would be easy...

Flik decided to scope out the processing centre first, just to make sure that there weren’t any other alternative destinations for her. Though he didn’t see he guards as much of a threat individually because of his Jedi abilities, if there were enough of them, they could easily overwhelm him. Flik also tried to avoid conflict wherever possible. Sometimes, Flik couldn’t decide whether there remained a part of him that still aspired to be a Jedi, or if he just wanted to avoid confrontations because it meant that he was more likely for him to survive to collect his bounty... 

Keeping to the shadows, Flik found the human processing division quite easily. After an initial scanning of the area to determine if all was clear, with both his normal senses and through the Force, Flik began to search for signs that she’d been there. He crouched down, almost kneeling, so that he could get a good sample of the scents of the beings that had passed through the place recently. There were a lot and for a moment, Flik feared that the tangle of scent trails would overwhelm any that Shiba might have left behind.

All the ones he detected were male, much to his disappointment...

Then, just as he was about to give up, Flik detected a familiar scent, it so faint that he’d almost missed it among the others, but the feminine odour called out to him and once he’d detected it, he was able to block out all the others and focus only on it. Definitely female, mixed with the sterile disinfectant-type scent of her former occupation. 

Flik had to crush the excitement that coursed through his body at the recognition of her scent trail. Forcing himself to concentrate, Flik set about determining where it led...

If it was away from the Villa, then he’d know she was free, and that all it would take was a matter of finding her, rather than coming to her rescue. No such luck, unfortunately when her trail abruptly ended. He detected the scent of metal and fuel and determined that Shiba must have been bundled into an armoured landspeeder of some kind. He growled softly in his throat. She could have been taken anywhere... 

Flik heard the sound of footsteps coming up behind him and he cursed when he realised that he’d been so intent on finding her that one of the night guards had almost gotten the drop on him. As Flik turned around to face the threat, the guard snapped off a stun bolt shot at him, which missed due to it being fired in haste. 

Reaching out with the Force, Flik yanked the blaster pistol from the guard’s hands. The guard’s expression turned to fear as he turned tail in an attempt to get away from the alien. 

Some guard, Flik thought, critically, before setting off after him. 

Flik drew his blaster from its holster as he sprinted after him. The wolfman caught the guard easily and tackled him face-down to the ground. With his right knee pressed into the small of the guard’s back and his left arm pinning the guard to the ground, Flik held his blaster to the back of the guard’s head – his blaster was not on stun...

Flik snarled as he spoke. “The woman brought in yesterday; where was she taken?”

Only the guard’s silence answered him.

“Answer me, human – where did they take her?” he asked, pressing the nozzle of the blaster harder against his head. “Think carefully, human. Mine’s not on stun.”

“The governor’s villa,” he stammered in reply. “They took her there.”

“You wouldn’t be lying to me now, would you?” Flik growled.

By then, the guard was trembling with fear. He repeated what he’d told him.

Flik determined that he couldn’t be lying, but as he rose back to his feet, keeping his blaster trained on the guard all the time, he said, “That had better be the truth, human. If she’s not there, I’ll be paying you another visit, and next time, you might not escape with your life.”

Flik was gone before the guard regained the courage to get to his feet.

***  
As he disappeared into the night, Flik wondered if it had been a good idea to let the guard live. A part of him, the part that still functioned as a Jedi, refused to take a life unnecessarily, even if sometimes it was more practical to do the opposite. Flik shrugged it off. Besides, if it proved to be a detriment in the near future, he’d just have to live with it and deal with the situation as it arose as best he could.

The curfew was drawing near as the villa came into view. It was huge, and was surrounded by an intricate garden, the likes of which he’d not seen since he’d been a Jedi in the Old Republic. Even in the darkness, he could make out a maze with three metre-high hedgerows, shrubs and what appeared to be flowerbeds. He guessed that the villa had once belonged to a Naboo dignitary, or businessman, as it didn’t look like what he’d come to expect to be the home of a high-ranking Imperial at all. 

However, the fact that the grounds appeared innocuous put him on guard. He picked his way carefully through the garden, his senses primed for any sign, sight, sound or smell that guards were about. He moved silently over the lawns, using the shadows cast by the foliage as cover as though he was stalking some wild animal. He’d just passed a gazebo when he paused. He’d caught the sound of a patrol moving towards him, and he saw a beam of light as it shone through the gaps in the leaves of a near by clump of bushes.

Flik sank deeper into the shadows of the bushes, before closing his eyes. It may have seemed a rather foolish move, as he couldn’t see his adversaries, but Flik didn’t need the use of his eyes to “see.” He had his sharper hearing and sense of smell to detect his possible enemies. Besides, the tapetum lucidium, that reflective layer of cells at the back of his eyes that gave sharper vision to those descended from nocturnal species than those of the day would have been a disadvantage at that particular moment, for if the beam of light reflected off his eyes, they would have been as visible to the patrol as a full moon and give away his position.

Flik kept silent and sill, for in the darkness, movement would reveal his presence just as easily as his eyes would have. He listened and sniffed the air for their scent, but the slight breeze was blowing their odour away from him, so he had to rely on his ears, and the Force. He waited there, crouched in the undergrowth for what seemed an age for the patrol to pass him by, but it was in fact only fifteen minutes. Flik held his breath when they were at their nearest to his position, and hoped that they didn’t have infra-red or night vision goggles. It seemed unlikely, for they wouldn’t have had glow rods otherwise, but you could never tell. He tensed in case the need to fight arouse. From the footfalls, he guessed that there must have been six of them. He relaxed slightly as the sound of their passing began to recede. But should he risk opening his eyes? He waited for a minute or two before risking it. They had their backs turned to him, but he still kept his gaze low, so that the light wouldn’t catch his eyes. When they disappeared around the corner of the villa, he deemed that it was safe to move. He could detect their scents on the wind now, for they were moving in a direction that favoured the night’s air currents to bring their scent to him. His estimate had been correct, as he detected six distinct human male scents. 

Getting to his feet, Flik continued on his way to the villa. 

***  
Try as she might, Shiba couldn’t get to sleep. Thoughts of her children, particularly the question of if she would ever see them again, ran around her head. Perhaps in hindsight, she should have taken the wolfman’s advice and gone back to Corellia while she had the chance. Even if she’d not been able to get her practice back, she could have at least attempted to get work as a doctor in someone else’s, perhaps even the military if that avenue had been unsuccessful. That option would have been possible if she’d found a garrison planet-wise where she wouldn’t have been separated from her children. 

Yeah, right, she thought sarcastically. Did she really think that she could have worked for the very same people that were responsible for the destruction of her homeworld, the deaths of her friends and the family that hadn’t been lucky enough not to have been on Alderaan at the time it had happened? And was being a bounty hunter any better? she asked herself. Still, if she’d been anywhere other than a cell facing an unknown fate she wouldn’t even been asking herself these questions.

There was no going back on the choices she had made, as there was nothing she could do to change them now.

To her surprise, Shiba had been treated well, and the cell wasn’t the usual uncomfortable box that Imperial prisoners were normally given. It was equipped with the kind of furniture and decor she’d expect a person of minor aristocracy would be imprisoned with. Still, a cage is still a cage, no matter how appealing it appeared.

Earlier, when the attendant had brought her food, Shiba had over heard the guards talking about an out-going shipment next week. Where, she couldn’t have said, for the guards had kept that part out, but by their tone, it seemed to be a regular event. This had garnered her curiosity, but other than hazarding a guess that it had something to do with the skimpy garments she’d been forced to change into upon her arrival at the villa, she had nothing else to go on. Still, that mean she couldn’t imagine what was in store for her...and it was something she didn’t really want to think about.

Shiba sighed and got to her feet and began pacing. 

What was taking the wolfman so long? She was starting to wonder if he was ever going to rescue her, for in spite of her investigations, the cell (she refused to think of it as a room), was escape-proof, at least from the inside, or if he was just going to leave her there.

Getting her out of his hair was what he’d wanted all along, after all...

***  
Unknown to Shiba, Flik was only a few metres away. Now that he’d managed to get to the east side of the villa without encountering anymore guard patrols, Flik had the problem of finding a way inside without tripping any alarms. Once he’d accomplished that, he then had the problem of finding her. Rescuing her needed to be carried out quickly, preferably she’d be gone and they would be beyond the garden before anyone even noticed she’d escaped. Somehow, Flik had the feeling neither of them would be that lucky, especially if he had to spend a significant amount of time wandering around in side the villa in a vain effort to find her.

Perhaps the best course of action would be to find the place where Shiba had entered the villa and follow he scent trail if he could find it. That method had, after all, been useful to him earlier. He sniffed the night air for any sign of the guard patrol he’d avoided earlier, and because he could still detect them, he figured that there was little chance of him being discovered, at least by them, for the moment. He kept his senses primed for any other patrols that might be in the villa’s grounds. 

Flik began skirting the villa’s perimeter, moving swiftly, but still attempting to maintain a degree of stealth. He was unsuccessful at finding a possible entrance, as the wall along this side of the villa was solid, aside from the windows and he didn’t want to take the chance entering through one of those in case it was protected by an alarm system. He paused when he reached the corner and sniffed the air to try and determine the whereabouts of the guard patrol. They had changed direction, Flik noted, as he failed to catch their scent on the night breeze. He would have to proceed more carefully, as he didn’t want to nearly run into them again. 

Flik rounded the corner, and there, a few metres away, was the likely entrance that Shiba had been forced to take. It was non-descript the kind of thing you’d expect to find would have been frequented by the house staff, delivery men or in this case, guards. There was a small landing bay near-by that was big enough for a ship the size of an Imperial shuttle, and there was enough space for the comings and goings of armoured landspeeders and transports, though nothing on the scale of the ATATs that the Empire often used, which came with some relief to him. 

He studied the area for any sign of a turbo-laser turret, or any other heavy defensive weapons of that nature, but there weren’t any. There were plenty of storage crates in the unloading bay, Flik noted. Perhaps it was something he could use to his advantage. 

His ears primed, Flik listened for the sound of movement which would indicate that there were guards around. He detected two sets of booted footsteps and one of the guards, a Stormtrooper, came into view. 

Good. He could easily take out two guards if the situation required it. However, as before with the patrol, Flik would much prefer to let the guards think that nothing was amiss until there came a time when he did have to reveal his presence. He moved forwards towards the entrance to get as close as he safely could before it was likely that he’d be seen, which was difficult because there was no cover. 

As his eyes moved over the crates again, an idea began to form in his mind. Seeing that the line of crates stretched a fair distance away from the entrance, Flik came up with a plan to distract the guards and give him a chance, no matter how slim, to slip inside without being noticed. Reaching out with the Force, Flik caused one of the storage crates to fall, creating a heavy bang as it came into contact with the ferrocrete. 

Flik waited, until he saw the guards leave their post to investigate the noise. Flik took that opportunity to enter the villa. Once he was inside, Flik cast around, in an attempt to find Shiba’s scent trail. Knowing that his time was limited, Flik worked quickly. Flik had to stifle an excited yip when he detected her familiar scent, and began to follow.

***  
Shiba was just about to sit back down again when she heard a noise, much like that which accompanied a scuffle, right outside her door. A moment later, the door slid open to reveal the very same wolfman she had thought had abandoned her.

“I thought you weren’t coming,” Shiba exclaimed. 

Flik’s muzzle creased in a grim smile. “Yeah, well, we’re ain’t outta this yet, doctor,” the wolfman replied, handing her the weapon that had previously belonged to the unconscious guard at his feet. 

Shiba gingerly accepted it. Taking one look at her outfit, and trying to suppress the amused laugh that threatened to emerge, Flik shrugged off his jacket and handed that to her as well. It was on the large size, but Shiba didn’t complain as she put it on. 

“We’d best get out of here while - ” the alarm klaxon cut off his next words and he growled a curse. “You’d better be ready to use that thing, doctor.”

Shiba just nodded, figuring that now was not really the time to argue over it and followed him out into the corridor. Mirroring his battle stance, Shiba trailed after him, a little off to the right so that she wouldn’t accidently shoot him in the back if she panicked when they ran into any guards.

As this was the first time she’d ever been in a situation like this, Shiba found her movements to be rather jerky and nausea crept its way into her stomach along with the adrenaline. Her mouth had gone dry. She cast her mind back to the very first operation she’d participated in, back when she was studying. Somehow, back then, she’d managed to calm her nerves and as a result, succeeded to complete it with only a few minor errors that were easily corrected. She swallowed and tried to conjure up some of the calmness she’d felt back then. As if sensing her anxiety, Flik’s eyes rolled in her direction before they focused forward again.

“You ok, doctor?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” Shiba managed to choke out.

“You’d better be,” the wolfman replied. “Otherwise, you’re no good to me.”

Shiba felt a tinge of anger at his words, which was the reaction Flik had hoped to get as it distracted her from her own self-doubt.

The encountered no one in the corridors and Flik began to wonder if the place was as heavily guarded as he’d thought it was when he abruptly stopped. 

“What is it?” Shiba asked.

“Hopefully, nothing,” Flik replied as he began moving forward again. 

After about ten more paces, Flik grabbed her upper arm and stopped her in her tracks. 

“Someone’s coming this way,” he informed her. Glancing around, Flik’s gaze fixed on a doorway going off to the side. Letting go of her arm, Flik walked over to it and attempted to open the door. It slid open and he motioned her inside. Thinking that he was on the verge of going nuts, Shiba obeyed and ducked inside, the wolfman a step or two behind her. Flik closed the door and gestured for her to be silent and they waited. After two or three minutes had passed, Shiba was beginning to wonder if Flik was imagining things when she heard the footsteps of a sizable patrol going past just a few centimetres beyond the door. Shiba looked at him and mouthed, “How did you know they were there?”

In reply, Flik pointed to his ears.

Shiba nodded her understanding. After another couple of minutes had gone by, Flik said, “Once they see we’re not back that way, they’ll come back and start checking these rooms. There’s too many of them for us to get out the way I came in. We’ll have to find another way out of here.”

“Will that do?” Shiba asked, indicating the window.

“Yeah, that’ll do,” Flik answered.

He stalked over to the window and opened it. Fortunately, they were on the ground floor. 

“I’ll go through first,” Flik said, over his shoulder.

“Won’t they figure out that we went out this way?” Shiba asked, pocketing her blaster. 

“Trust me, we stand a better chance of evading them out there,” Flik replied. “And if we hurry, we should be long gone by the time they do.”

Before she could reply, Flik was through the window. Shiba followed him more carefully and when she was half out of the window, Flik helped her down. The wolfman seemed to merge with the darkness and Shiba soon understood what he meant when he said they’d stood a better chance. It took a moment for Shiba’s eyes to adjust to the darkness after the bright lights inside. Speed was of the essence now and Flik, gripping her arm didn’t wait for her to get used to it and hurried her along. 

***  
Flik returned to the cantina with Shiba after he’d rescued her. They’d had an encounter with a patrol in the garden, but Flik had easily dealt with that and they’d had to avoid one or two Stromtrooper patrols that were out trying to catch the odd curfew violator. There was only the proprietor in the bar at that late hour and the Gungan jabbered a lecture consisting of broken basic at them, complaining at Flik’s lateness as the Gungan was about to close up the bar. Upon seeing that he’d brought Shiba, a human, to his cantina, his barrage intensified. 

Flik growled, showing his impressive set of fangs and shoved his blaster under the Gungan’s nose. The Gungan uttered a quick apology before making himself scarce. Flik lowered his blaster and he and Shiba continued to his rented room.

“What in the ruins of Alderaan was all that about?” Shiba asked as Flik closed the door and made sure that the lock was secure to keep out unwanted visitors.

“The Gungan doesn’t like humans staying here,” Flik explained. “He thinks that you will bring trouble down on to his establishment.”

Shiba opened her arms wide to show off the ridiculous skimpy clothing she’d been forced to wear by the purists. “Do I look as though I would smash the place up?”

“Not you personally,” Flik replied, his face taking on a sheepish expression. “He thinks I brought you back here for some night-time entertainment.” 

Shiba stifled a laugh. “Yeah, right - ” her eyes met his for a moment and there was a glint to them that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. “As if that would happen.”

Flik shared her amusement, his laugh a low growl, very different from that which he’d used to intimidate the Gungan a few minutes earlier. Both, however, couldn’t help but suspect that the other was trying to cover their true feelings on the matter up. Shiba shrugged off the jacket he’d lent her to protect her from the cold night air and laid it beside her on the bed as she sat down. 

“He has a point,” Flik said, padding over to the window. At that moment, he just didn’t want to look at her. His voice had a serious tone to it as he continued. “A lot of humans wouldn’t take too kindly to the thought of one of their women with someone like me, even if that relationship was platonic. Even just a suggestion or a rumour of that - ”

“Yeah, well, it’s just as well that we’re not here for that, isn’t it?” Shiba replied. From the way he spoke, Shiba couldn’t help but get the impression that he was talking about more than just romantic relationships between different species. “But I’m no stranger to what you described. Many of my human patients back on Corellia didn’t like the fact I treated non-humans. And many of my non-human patients felt the same way about them as well and mistrusted me because I am human. The fact that the Empire put more tariffs and taxes on the medication and treatment of non-human patients didn’t help matters either. I was even considering quitting the profession before Alderaan was destroyed because of it.”

“I had no idea it had been that bad,” Flik said. He’d thought that she’d made a mistake approaching him to take on a career as a bounty hunter. Now, he was going to have to re-evaluate that assessment.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong – I loved being a doctor. After worrying about the fate of my patients, that’s worst part of giving it up.”

Flik nodded. He could relate to that. He heard her get up and she went over to stand next to him beside the window. 

“I’ve not thanked you for rescuing me yet,” Shiba said, standing on her tip toes, she reached up to kiss his lips.

“The only reason I went after you is that you’re important to my mission, doctor,” Flik replied, coldly, as unwanted visions of them sharing intimacy flashed involuntary through his mind. It was not something he should let himself pursue, even if he did want it.

Shiba took a step back away from him and for a brief moment, Flik wanted to apologise for his harsh words. Instead, he said, “You take the bed, doctor,” Flik said. “I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“Forever the gentleman, aren’t you?” Shiba said, probably a little too sarcastically.

Flik didn’t reply as she sat down on the bed and removed her shoes. He stared out of the window into the blackness of the night because if he turned to look at her, he knew he would give in and sleep with her. Only once her breathing became deep and regular did he himself settle down on the floor and sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

“This was all I could find,” Flik said, handing Shiba the Naboo peasant clothing he had found. “I guessed your size.”

“Thanks,” Shiba said, taking the clothes from him. Out of courtesy, Flik turned his back on her as she changed, though the skimpy clothes she’d been forced to wear did little to hide her modesty, anyway. Although they weren’t what Shiba would have chosen for herself, the light brown trousers and tunic were practical, she decided.

“You can look now,” Shiba said, after she’d finished dressing. Flik turned around. 

“So, what’s this plan of yours?” Shiba asked, sitting down at the bottom of the bed.

“We’ll need to infiltrate the purists,” Flik replied. “If we are to find Sarnad’s killer.”

“A bit obvious,” Shiba mumbled. “Though it’s going to be difficult considering what you look like and all.”

Flik exposed his fangs to indicate amusement. “There’s no need to worry about that,” he explained. He picked up the belt from the equipment they had arranged on the floor. “This device is known as a holographic belt. It will enclose me in a hologram which will make me look human, and the voice modulator will make me sound more human.”

“So, what’s my part in all of this? It looks like you’ve got everything at your end covered.”

Flik hesitated. She probably wasn’t going to like the next part of the plan. “To get you in there, you’re going to have to play the part of my squeeze.”

Shiba raised her eye brows. She didn’t know whether to laugh at him or slap him. “Your what?” she asked in disbelief.

“The purists treat your gender as subservient, as well as treating those not of their species as inferior. It’s the only way I could get you in there and give you some protection. The only honourable trait they possess is that they wouldn’t touch what he sees to be the property of someone else,” Flik explained. “If you can come up with a better plan, then let me know.”

At that moment, Shiba couldn’t think of anything. After a moment, she said, “I just don’t understand you. One moment you act like a complete jerk, the next, you’re the champion of chivalry. I don’t get that.”

“Good. You’re not meant to.”

“I just hope that you don’t hold the same views about - ”

Flik laughed. “Of course not! Things have changed drastically on Naboo since Senator Amidala was in office.”

“You say that like you knew her.”

“Only on a professional basis, even then, I had few dealings with her,” Flik replied.

“We need to bring this group down.”

Flik flashed her a rare smile. “We may not be able to accomplish that by ourselves, doctor, but our actions will contribute to its downfall. Of that, I have no doubt.”

“I wonder why the Empire failed to put an end to all of this.”

Flik glanced out the window as he answered. “The answer to that question is simple, doctor. While the non-humans and their sympathisers are battling against the purists, it prevents them from turning their attention to their real oppressors, the Empire. With the destruction of Alderaan, more and more systems are taking up the call to join the Rebellion. It wouldn’t do for Palpatine’s homeworld to turn against him, now would it?”

“I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

Flik continued looking out the window. “In many ways, the Naboo are much like the people of your planet were, peaceful, but with a strong belief in justice and fairness. Dividing the inhabitants of Naboo like this destroys that.”

Flik checked the chronometer on his wrist. “We have time to spare before we’re due to meet our contact. I suggest we use that time to practice your self-defence.”

“Agreed,” Shiba said, getting to her feet. 

They began by practising the postures that Shiba had learnt from him already, and then followed it up by the moves he had taught. Though most of the time, Shiba still ended up as the loser, she was starting to hold her own against him. Flik, however, executed his moves with caution, as he didn’t want to hurt her unduly. As a result, he set up most of his moves to be effective, but he kept back any unnecessary power from them that he would have used against a real opponent. In spite of that, he encouraged Shiba to put all her power behind her moves, so that she could improve and to not be afraid to use force when she met her real opponents in battle. Shiba even succeeded in flooring him a few times.

“You have greatly improved, since we began, doctor,” he said, as he looked up at her from the floor the final time she floored him. “We should call it a day, I think.”

Shiba pushed sweat soaked hair away from her face. “I’ve had it,” she agreed, reaching down to help him to his feet. With a quick movement that Shiba didn’t see, he had her pinned with her back against him, his left arm holing her across her chest tight enough so that she couldn’t struggle. His right hand held a vibroblade up against her throat.

“Now that’s fighting dirty, Sivrak,” Shiba managed to gasp out.

Flik pressed his muzzle up to her right ear. She could feel his breath on the side of her face. “You’ll find that most of your opponents will fight dirty, dear doctor,” he whispered. “I have to prepare you for that.”

He took the vibroblade away from her throat and returned it to its sheath on his belt. He spun her around and the look in his eyes caused her heart to miss a beat. The next thing Shiba knew, his mouth was pressed up against hers. The following kiss was as gentle as Flik could manage it. Shiba found herself returning the kiss and she was glad that he’d found her more appropriate clothing because if he hadn’t, she knew that it would have gone much further than just the kiss. 

A moment later, Flik pulled away from her and turned his back on her as he stammered over an apology. He squeezed his eyes shut in frustration. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he stepped away from her. 

“We should get on with our mission, doctor,” he said.

***  
Before they left the cantina, Flik suggested that they should gather up their equipment and take it with them since given the Gungan’s reaction the night before, t he cantina was no longer safe. In fact, Flik was surprised that the Imperials hadn’t came down on them already. Shiba agreed, and she’d been surprised that they had escaped from the villa so easily. 

Flik advised Shiba to wait outside for him while he settled business with the Gungan, as he didn’t think it was a good idea for the Gungan to set eyes on her again. Shiba had to agree and she had no desire to meet the Gungan face to face so soon. So, having gone out the back way to avoid the Gungan, Shiba waited on the wooden bench situated near the cantina’s front entrance while Flik settled things. As she waited, Shiba watched a group of Gungan children play. It seemed that no matter where she went in the galaxy, or what species they happened to be, kids were all the same. After about five minutes, an adult Gungan, which Shiba took to be a female, came out of one of the nearby buildings and glared at her before herding the children inside. Shiba sighed and waited for the wolfman to appear.

It seemed to her that he was gone for ages when in fact only a few minutes had passed. Shortly after the mother Gungan had herded her children inside, another adult Gungan came out of the building and headed towards her.

“Is there a problem?” Flik asked, holding his blaster casually at his side. His posture was non-threatening, though there was a hint of a growl in his voice. The Gungan passed his gaze over the wolfman, taking in the blaster and his tone. Deciding that continuing the confrontation wasn’t worth it, the Gungan retreated back into the building.

Shiba glanced up at him as she got to her feet. 

“Did you get it sorted?” Shiba asked.

“Yeah, after a manner,” the wolfman replied. “The Gungan tried to make me pay extra because of your presence...to keep quiet about you if the Imperials came around asking questions.”

“What did you do?” Shiba asked. 

Flik’s muzzle creased in a grin. “I persuaded him that trying to blackmail me was not in his best interests,” he replied. “We’d better be on our way. The people are resentful of humans around here.”

“I’ve noticed.”

***  
The protocol droid, H-3PX, met them in Rhinda’s front garden and this time the droid took them to the kitchen. Rhinda proved to be more amiable than the Gungans had been, much to Shiba’s relief. Today, the Bothan woman was wearing a green tunic and trousers. After the droid introduced the visitors and left, Rhinda bade them to follow her and took them through to a small room lined with shelves that were filled with data discs, most of which were works of literature, some of which Flik recognised from his time as a padawan before the onset of the Clone Wars and some which Shiba remembered reading during her time studying on Alderaan. There was a computer terminal in the middle of the room with a pile of data discs and a collection of holocubes on the desk beside it. 

“Those are all the data discs and holocubes that I could find, Sivrak. I will leave you to your work now – there’s a lot for you to get through. If you need anything, just ask H-3PX.”

“Of course,” Flik said. Once Rhinda had left, Flik filled Shiba in everything he already knew about the case before they started looking through the data discs and holocubes. They spent the rest of the afternoon researching the data discs that Rhinda had been able to dig out. From what they could determine, all of them pointed to this Janos Teff as being the killer of her husband, but there was something about it that didn’t sit right with Flik – he had the feeling that there was more going on than the evidence was showing him and it all seemed too neatly packaged.

“You think someone’s trying to cover up for someone else?” Shiba asked him from the opposite side of the desk after he had mentioned his misgivings to her. 

“Yeah, I do,” Flik indicated the computer screen, which had Janos Teff’s profile on it, and he turned it around so she could see it. “We know from what we’ve read about Teff’s background that he’s a viscous thug. He’s been behind the murder of several Gungans before the creation of these prisons, which is why he was placed here to begin with.”

Shiba shrugged her shoulders. “It seems a strange thing to do, considering the large population of Gungans that live here.”

Flik flashed her a grim smile. “Yeah, but his connection to the Imperial Governor saves him from getting sent straight to Kessel, where those like him belong.”

Shiba shrugged her shoulders. “You could bet that had he killed a human, that he would have been, or had an alien done the same deeds, he or she would have been executed.”

Flik made no reply to that, knowing her words to be accurate. Shiba was about to suggest that perhaps it would be best to stick with what they knew for the moment, when Flik suddenly shot up out of his chair and drew his blaster. 

“What is it?” Shiba asked.

“We have an intruder,” he replied. He didn’t elaborate more and exited the study.

***  
Flik soon came up on the intruder, another bounty hunter that he had seen around the Bounty Hunter’s Guild, but one he had paid little attention to because he was one of the less prominent members, and so Flik had considered him less dangerous. Flik failed to recall the hunter’s name, and that was if he had even known it to begin with. Perhaps that had been a mistake. 

He had Rhinda pinned down in the kitchen, the Bothan woman attempting to use the furniture for cover. The droid, H-3PX, had taken a blaster shot to his metallic torso that had melted his casing and wiring. Flik instinctively ducked as the hunter snapped off a shot at him, which missed, hitting the wall in the hallway behind him, causing it to blacken. A moment later, Flik heard movement as Shiba came up behind him, her blaster pistol primed for action if need be. Shiba’s arrival distracted the other hunter as he looked at her. Using the distraction to her advantage, Rhinda had produced a blaster pistol that she must have kept hidden in one of the cupboards and had a third blaster pointing her attacker’s way. 

“Don’t move,” she snarled. The hunter glanced at Rhinda.

“You’re out numbered,” Flik barked at the intruder, before adding, “Drop the weapon.”

Seeing that there was no way he could survive a three-pronged assault, even if he managed to kill or severely injure one of them, the bounty hunter, a human male, did as the wolfman ordered and placed his blaster on the floor. Still keeping his gaze on the human, Flik indicated for Shiba to retrieve it. When she was back at his side and had her blaster on him once again, Flik asked him, “Who hired you?” 

“Jessa Endeel,” the human replied, glancing at the Bothan with her blaster still trained on him. “It seems that she has an alien problem.”

That was all Flik needed to know. Without warning, the wolfman aimed his blaster and shot him. Shiba gasped in surprise as he slumped forward, dead before he hit the ground. Flik turned to Shiba. 

“It had to be done, doctor,” he explained, coldly. “Other wise he would have jeopardised the success of our mission.”

Shiba merely nodded, uncertain whether to agree with him, or not. All her professional life, she’d had those words drilled into her, do no harm, and it wasn’t until that moment that she began to appreciate why he’d been so reluctant to take her on. She didn’t know what was worse, the cold way in which Flik had dispatched the other bounty hunter, or his calm demeanour as though nothing of the sort had happened afterwards. Ignoring Shiba’s moral dilemma, Flik turned back to Rhinda.

“A price is out on your head,” Flik said to the Bothan. “You mentioned earlier that Teff has your late husband’s associates under surveillance now.”

“That’s correct,” Rhinda replied. 

Flik looked thoughtful. “That means you can’t go to them for protection. We’ll just have to think of something else.”

“You can bet that once he doesn’t report back that Jessa will want to find out what’s happened to him,” Shiba said, cutting into his thoughts.

Flik had to concede that point to her. To Rhinda, he said, “You’d best gather up what ever you think you’ll need. It’s no longer safe here.”

Once the Bothan had gone, Flik said quietly to Shiba, “You’d best start pulling yourself together, quickly, doctor,” Flik indicated the body of the bounty hunter sprawled on the floor. “He would have killed Rhinda if I’d arrived a few seconds later. It’s rare that you get a second chance in this game. Think about it, with her gone so would have your money.”

“Don’t you think that I know that?” Shiba asked.

“You’re going to have to start putting those sensibilities that your university professors drilled into you aside, doctor, if you want to stay in this. If not, you’ll end up dead.”

Shiba didn’t know whether to count that as a warning or a threat, possibly both. Frowning at him, she said, “That means we end up becoming like those we hunt.” Shiba didn’t add, like the Empire, but she was definitely thinking on those lines.

“Just remember, you chose it, doctor.”


	8. Chapter 8

Flik and Shiba hardly said a word to each other while they relocated Rhinda, which was fine by Flik. He hoped that once the mission was over, that Shiba, having had a taste of the brutality surrounding a Bounty Hunter’s life, would decide to quit. They had found a small cantina, this time run by a Qurren, which seemed to be more tolerant of non-native species which the wolfman put down to it being owned by an off-worlder. Flik figured that they would be less noticeable as there were even humans, though not many, among the mix of patrons. What none of them knew was that the cantina was a front to disguise a Rebel Alliance cell which was there to monitor the situation between the alien and human prisoners. 

At that particular time, the only concern of Flik and the two women was that they remained hidden from their enemies and that the other patrons reminded their own business, which they seemed to be intent on doing. However, in spite of this, Flik kept his suspicions up, as there was always a possibility of a spy, among them, especially because of the presence of humans. 

To combat this, after stowing their belongings in the two rooms they’d rented, Flik did a sweep of the building to determine possible routes of escape in the event of a raid, either by Imperial forces, or the Purists. It had been a habit he’d gotten into during the latter days of the Clone Wars after he and his family had been forced to flee Coruscant. Then, once he was on his own after Auoura and Tek’s deaths, he’d no longer cared if Imperials busted their way into anywhere he was staying, and he’d dropped it off. Now, with a client in tow, he could no longer take such risks. 

He met up with Shiba and Rhinda in the bar area. The two women had wisely chosen a booth, rather than a table, which gave them some degree of privacy. He noticed a glass of Lomin ale waiting for him.

“Hope you don’t mind,” Shiba said. “I thought it would make us blend in better.”

Flik didn’t reply as he sat down, taking note of the drinks that Shiba and Rhinda had in front of them. He glanced at Shiba suspiciously, but he picked up no indication of deception from her.

“Everything secure?” Shiba asked.

“There should be no problem,” the wolfman replied.

Rhinda sipped her drink. Looking the wolfman in the eye, she opened her mouth to speak.

“Once our business here is finished, I want passage off this world,” the Bothan said. “There is little keeping me here now. Kothlis or Bothawui -”

“I can take you to Kothlis,” Flik said. “It’ll cost you extra. From there, it’s up to you to find your own way to Bothawui, if that is where you want to go from there.”

Rhinda’s eyes narrowed. “How much more?” she asked.

“One hundred percent of the price we’ve already discussed,” the wolfman replied.

“That’s steep,” Rhinda started to protest.

“Yeah, well, look at it this way. After we’ve done this job, we’ll already be going out hot. Taking you with us will increase the risk. I need to be able to cover the cost of any damages done to my ship, if we run into further trouble. I think the price I am asking is fair. Of course, if you think it’s too much, you can always stay where you are.”

“Very well, wolfman,” Rhinda replied, but it was clear from the tone in her voice and the rippling of her fur that she was far from pleased with the deal. 

With that, Rhinda rose to her feet and left them. After she was gone, Shiba looked at Flik.

“You drive a hard bargain,” she said.

Flik shrugged his shoulders. “Most people only put value on credits, doctor, and as such, are easily manipulated.”

Shiba frowned at him. “She came to you for help. They killed her husband,” Shiba reminded him. “You’re using her -” 

Flik cut her off. “Don’t use that argument with me, doctor. If family meant something to you, you would be with your children right now.”

***  
Ever since the time of the Clone Wars, Flik had taken to sleeping lightly, so the soft tapping on the door didn’t escape his notice. He slipped on his trousers and glanced at his chrono. Less than half an hour had passed since he and Shiba had left the bar, and it didn’t take much guessing that it was the human woman before he even opened the door, and he’d guessed correctly.

“Look, I know you don’t really want me here, but you’re wrong if you think that I don’t care about my children,” Shiba began.

“You woke me to tell me that?” Flik asked, not even attempting to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. 

“Yes,” Shiba replied, deciding to ignore the sarcasm. “And the fact that Rhinda wouldn’t let me in our room after what you did earlier.”

“The fees? She’s still sore about them?”

“Apparently,” Shiba said.

“I’m not going to drop them. They stay has they are.”

“You’re stubborn, you know that?” Shiba crossed her arms over her chest.

“Look, doctor, if I went around giving into my clients, I would never get paid, I’d never be able to cover my expenses, and now that you’re with me, you expect to get the pay you deserve, on top of which if you’re ever going to earn enough to restart your medical practice, not to mention those brats of - ”

“Yes, I get the picture,” Shiba cut him off, a frown creasing her forehead. “And my kids aren’t brats.” After a moment, she said, “You really don’t want me here, do you?”

Seeing that they were in danger of gathering an audience, Flik grabbed her arm and pulled her inside before closing the door.

“I don’t think this is the right place for you. We’ve been lucky so far in that neither of us hasn’t been killed.”

“You would have,” Shiba tried to remind him, referring to the time she’d had to rescue him.

“Perhaps. You tell me that I’m stubborn, but no matter what I do to try convince you otherwise, it just makes you more determined to stay on.” His lupine eyes fell on her and he wanted to tell her the real reason why he didn’t want her to stay. I don’t want you here because I’m falling in love with you and that’s far more risky than all the dangers we’ve faced together so far combined. 

There must have been a hint of his true feelings in his eyes at that moment because Shiba kissed him. As her lips met his, the tension that had been steadily building up between them snapped. Before he had time to stop and think about what he was doing, because if he’d paused he would have finished it before he started, he’d pulled Shiba’s tunic up over her head and dropped it to the floor. He could have stopped there, they both could have, but instead Flik guided her, with her full cooperation, towards the bed.

***  
Shiba woke to find Flik’s arm wrapped around her, pressing her back into his chest. She shifted on to her back and saw that he was awake, his lupine eyes staring back at her. 

“I was wondering if you were ever going to wake up,” he said. He wanted to kiss her, but time was pressing and he knew that if he did so that neither of them would want to get up soon...

“You could have woken me,” Shiba replied.

Flik said, “I didn’t want to disturb you.” He’d not had this much fun since before Auoura died. Though he knew he shouldn’t, he kissed her, but only for a minute, after which he pulled back and got to his feet. He caught Shiba’s disappointed expression as he dressed.

“We have a job to do,” he reminded her. Shiba sensed the reluctance in his voice. “But,” he said with a grin, “We could continue this later.” 

He felt Shiba’s eyes on him as he finished pulling on his shirt and it took all of his will power not to return to her. He thought that after they’d made love, that it would lessen the distraction, but it only increased it. 

Flik headed towards the door. “I’ll meet you and Rhinda in her room in about an hour. There’s still some details we need to go over.”

“Ok,” Shiba replied as he disappeared through the now open doorway. Since when had the room she and Rhinda were supposed to be staying in just became Rhinda’s? Shiba laughed once the door had closed behind the wolfman, feeling like a college girl again, and tried not to berate herself for it.

***  
Shiba could hardly bring herself to look at Flik during the meeting with Rhinda. The Bothan had calmed down some what but Shiba could hardly concentrate on taking in any of Flik’s words while he outlined his advice to the Bothan to keep a low profile while they were gone. The meeting was over before Shiba realised the time had gone. Flik indicated that she should accompany him. Once they were alone again, the tension that had been building up between them returned, this time even more strongly than before. It was Flik that spoke first.

“Shiba,” he began, surprising her by using her name. That surprise quickly vanished to be replaced by dread, as it meant he had something serious to impart indeed. Shiba knew that dread was well founded as she listened to his next words. “We can’t let what occurred between us last night interfere with our work. We can’t let it happen again.” His tone was cold, but not unkind.

That college girl feeling vanished in an instant. “And if things were different?” She had to know, even while attempting to make it appear that it didn’t affect her.

Flik knew what she was really asking him was if there was a chance that he would change his mind. If he wasn’t a Bounty Hunter, he’d still be a Jedi, and the impossibility of it would still stand. Flik didn’t have the heart to give her false hope. That would be far more cruel than rejection.

“It wouldn’t happen, even then,” he replied quietly. “You of all people should know of the prejudices that would drive us apart.”

He was referring to the fact that they were different species, hoping that would give her an understanding of the unfeasibility of a relationship. Shiba nodded, understanding and trying to put up a front that everything was fine, even though inside her emotions were tearing her asunder. She couldn’t help but feel that he was brushing her off, tossing her aside like she was nothing.

“I suggest that you focus your energy on our upcoming mission, doctor, and forget about last night.”

Shiba had to wonder just how he could shake everything off so quickly, like it hadn’t happened, or meant nothing to him at all. Pulling herself together, like the way she done after losing a patient and gathering the resolve she needed to carry on with the job, Shiba left the room.

Once he was alone, Flik punched a nearby wall with his fist in frustration. He hated upsetting her like that, he hated having to lie to her. Why couldn’t he just be allowed to tell her the truth? In reality, he felt the wound of having to stay apart from her cut just as deeply. The only difference was, he’d had more practice at hiding it.

***  
Time to enter the Rancor’s den, Flik thought. He glanced across at Shiba, who now sported copper-red hair that she wore in a style similar to that of a Naboo’s lady’s. She’d dyed it as part of her disguise, as there’d not been an extra holographic belt for her use, so she’d had to rely on the more traditional ways of hiding her identity. To complete her disguise, she wore the clothing he had found for her while they’d resided in the Gungan’s cantina. He just hoped that it was enough to fool them.

He thought that she looked small, vulnerable and he wished one more time that he only had himself to look out for. Shiba caught him looking at her with the expression on her face that told him that she could handle it. He only hoped that was the case. The blaster displayed at her waist helped to reinforce that impression. 

Flik’s features were obscured by the holographic belt Rhinda had provided and he appeared as a tall, brown haired, bearded human male. His clothing, at least, that on his torso was real. The disadvantage using the holographic belt was that he had to avoid any physical contact with Teff’s men; otherwise, the disguise would fall apart. 

It had taken Flik a few days of manoeuvring to actually get this audience with Teff, and even now he and Shiba were forced to wait in the lobby. The two guards flanking the entrance to the corridor that led the way to Teff’s office eyed him and Shiba suspiciously and as the waiting time dragged on, Flik became increasingly convinced that their cover had been blown.

At last, a human, athletic enough to have been a stormtrooper, and given Teff’s connection to the Imperial overseer, Flik wouldn’t have been surprised to discover that he was, or had been. Flik studied the man carefully as he and Shiba were escorted to Teff’s office and marked him as an adversary to watch out for over the coming days. He made a mental note to alert Shiba to do the same the first time he got the chance.

They entered the office. Their escort, whose name Flik was later to learn was Delmon Roscoe, moved to stand behind Teff, at his right hand side. The office consisted of a desk that had seen better days and adorning the opposite wall was a holographic projection that displayed various scenes from around Theed. Along the left wall was a closed door way.

“You want to join my organisation, is that correct?” Teff asked, looking at him with scrutiny. He directed his question at Flik, ignoring Shiba standing beside him completely.

“It’s what we’re here for,” Flik replied, putting as much emphasis on the word we’re, as he could. Fortunately, the voice modulator filtered out the growl that Flik was sure was in his voice.

“I need men who are dedicated to our cause, Mr Naja,” Teff said. “You are familiar with it, I presume?”

“Very,” Flik replied. “The cleansing of Naboo by eliminating the primitive aliens that mar the perfection of our homeworld.”

Flik resisted the impulse to look across at Shiba. They had practiced this part of the speech. If they could not do it convincingly, then their efforts were for nought. The irony of Flik’s words was not lost on him.

Teff nodded his approval. “You must first prove your loyalty to our cause,” Teff said, reaching for the comm system and activating it. Speaking into the comm, Teff said, “Bring the creature in.”

After hearing those words, Flik had no doubt what kind of “loyalty test” Teff was talking about. Two of Teff’s guards entered through the left side door, dragging a heavily beaten Gungan between them. Flik’s keen sense of smell recognised the Gungan’s scent immediately. It was the proprietor of the cantina that Flik and Shiba had stayed at, prior to their moving to the one run by the Qurren. 

Panic surged through Flik momentarily, not because of what Teff as about to ask him to do, but for the fact that the Gungan might recognise Shiba and spoil the mission.

“Not only is this creature one of the primitives that infest this planet, but the Gungan you see before you has been harbouring enemies of our movement, an off-world alien, a wolfman, I believe, and a human woman, whom it has been consorting with. I am sure you know what is required.”

For once, Flik was glad that Shiba couldn’t see his features, and before she could react, Flik drew his blaster, aimed it at the Gungan, and fired.


	9. Chapter 9

The Gungan’s body dropped to the floor, a dark patch of burnt flesh where the blaster blot had hit. Flik calmly re-holstered the blaster pistol and fixed his gaze on Teff. 

“That solves the problem,” he murmured, glancing at Shiba. The blood had drained from her face, but she seemed to be holding up well, though Flik had a feeling that she would want to “talk it” over with him later. Flik shrugged it off. He didn’t like taking life unnecessarily, - his previous life in the Jedi Order did that, but the Clone Wars and his time as a Bounty Hunter had hardened him enough to allow him to make such difficult choices. And the mission came first. There would be time to reflect on it later, when the job was completed.

Teff hadn’t even blinked during the exchange, and carried on as though holding meetings with dead Gungans on the floor of his office was an everyday occurrence. Flik almost wished he’d used the blaster on the human instead.

“You seem the type of man we’re looking for to join our cause to rid Naboo of the alien blight,” Teff said. “But a probationary period is in order first.”

“What do you mean, probationary?” Flik asked.

“I need to be sure that you are as dedicated to eliminating the non-human scum from this planet as you claim to be. We need to ensure that you’re not a sympathiser to the aliens and are here to conduct espionage, either for the Rebels, or the Empire.”

“I can assure you that my honour is not in question and that I do not intend to betray it,” Flik replied. “I have one question, though. Why would the Empire be interested in us? They have little love for non-humans and...”

“Our movement has many enemies, Naja. And yes, the Empire has made significant contributions to our efforts with regard to their policies on non-human species. But they don’t go far enough! While aliens remain useful to the Empire in some way, they will give them protection. They don’t share our objective to eliminate them entirely.”

Flik exchanged a glance with Shiba. Teff wasn’t talking about enslaving entire populations of alien species, nor was he talking about having them removed from the system. He was talking about genocide. The Purists were also a threat to the Empire. One question remained, however. Just why hadn’t the Empire dealt with them? He was missing a piece of the puzzle.

“And what about her?” Teff asked, indicating Shiba.

Flik hoped that Shiba wouldn’t have his head for what he said next. “She does what I tell her, nothing more, nothing less.”

“Make sure that is the case, Naja.”

Knowing that he would pay for it later, Flik said, “She knows what’s good for her.”

“Good. See to it that she does. Now, back to the probationary period. I have some set tasks for you to complete during that time. Complete them, and you will be accepted into the organisation. Failure, well, let’s just say that it’s in your best interests not to.”

Teff’s words eerily echoed those he had spoken to Shiba at the start of the mission. Neither of them needed any more elaboration. Teff picked up a datapad that had been resting on his desk since they had entered. “All the details that you need are contained on this.” He handed it over to Flik who took it and gave it to Shiba for safekeeping. Shiba put it into the pouch that hung from her belt.

Teff pushed a button off the comm resting on his desk and spoke into it. “Connie, you’re wanted in here.”

A moment or two later, a small woman entered through the same door the Gungan had been dragged through earlier. She looked like she’d jump at her own shadow if she caught sight of it.

“See to the needs of our guests, Connie,” Teff ordered her.

Connie looked at the newcomers before her. “This way, please.”

***

Once Connie left, Flik locked the door behind her and began searching the room. Shiba leaned against a wall, her arms folded, feeling wretched about what had just happened. 

“What are you doing?” she asked with a note of exhaustion sounding in her voice.

“Checking for security devices so that we may talk freely,” he answered, glancing at her. Shiba nodded. She would have helped had she known exactly what to look for. As she didn’t, she took the opportunity to rest for a moment and regain some of her spent energy. Surprisingly, in spite of the paranoia he’d sensed rolling off Teff in waves, he failed to find any devices that could be used for surveillance. 

“It’s clean,” Flik said, and deactivated the holographic belt to conserve its power.

“Is that wise?” Shiba asked, looking at the transformed wolfman before her.

“I have no idea how much power this thing has,” he explained. “And besides, I’ll...” he hesitated a moment, stopping himself from saying that the Force would tell him if anyone was approaching. “I’d hear anyone coming down the hall and can turn it back on before they get here, just in case.”

Shiba took this in as she sat in one of the two chairs in the room to take the weight off her feet. The shock was beginning to wear off, albeit slowly. “Did you see that woman, Connie? She looked like she was going to jump out of her skin.”

Flik nodded his agreement. The smell of fear had been thick on her. “I won’t let you come to any harm,” he promised.

“He’s a nasty piece of work,” Shiba observed. “The sooner this is over, the better.”

“Let’s take a look at those jobs he wants us to take care of.”

“You aren’t seriously considering carrying them out, are you?” Shiba asked after she unpacked the datapad and was handing it over to him.

Flik wrinkled his muzzle. “I’ve done dirty stuff before when I’ve had to infiltrate an organisation on a bounty,” Flik began as he switched on the datapad’s power. “It’s no...” Flik let out a curse before he laughed. 

“What is it? He doesn’t want us to take out Rhinda?”

“She’s listed there, doctor,” Flik replied, passing the datapad over to her. “Take a look for yourself.”

Shiba took the datapad from his hand and read the text on the screen. She glanced up at him, disbelief written all over her face.

“They want us to take out, er us?” she asked, surprised.

“That’s what the datapad says,” Flik replied.

Shiba mulled over the implications in her head. “So they either have no clue who we are or it’s...”

“A trap,” Flik finished for her. “Either way, we’re going to have to work quickly before they realise who we are.”

“Tonight?” Shiba asked.

“It’ll have to be,” Flik answered. “You go to your appointment with Teff’s woman as planned; otherwise, they’ll get suspicious.” Flik referred to Connie’s request that they meet up on Teff’s orders to go over some things when she brought them to their room. Because of the Purists’ stance on women, Shiba had a good idea of what the meeting would entail and she wasn’t looking forward to it. 

“And you’ll be?”

“Give me half an hour to do what needs to be done, then get out. I’ll meet you back at the Quarren’s Tavern. If I don’t turn up there after an hour as passed, that means I probably won’t be. If that happens, get back to the Warrior.”

“And if I don’t make it out?”

“I’ll do the same.”

Disappointment flickered in Shiba’s eyes that she wouldn’t be present when Teff was confronted. Noticing her expression and thinking that she was miffed at the prospect of being left behind, Flik said, “It needs to happen this way sometimes.”

“Yeah, I bet,” Shiba said. Then fear tore through her body as memories of their time together in the Quarren’s Cantina flashed through her mind and she realised that she was afraid of losing him. Flik turned his gaze on her.

“Don’t fear for me, doctor. In the end, all I am is a killer and deserving of what ever foul fate awaits me. But you, there’s still hope for you. I’ll do everything I can to ensure that you get a chance to be what you’re supposed to be.”

What did he mean by that? “I don’t understand...”

“Good. Of that I am glad.”

***

As she made her way to her appointment with Connie, Shiba mulled over Flik’s words. All I am is a killer and deserving of what foul fate awaits me. But you, there’s still hope for you. What did she mean by those words? The more she came to know him, the more mysterious he seemed to become and the less she understood him. He seemed to understand her, though. How did he do it? And she got the distinct impression that he would never tell her. Shiba sensed where that train of thought was leading and she pushed it to the back of her mind to be worked over later. Right now, she had a job to do.

The sound of conversation reached her ears from the room down the corridor. She recognised one of the voices as belonging to Connie. The other voice, though she could tell that it was a woman’s was distorted by static. Shiba got the impression that the conversation, whatever it was about, was confidential and she slowed her pace so that she would move more quietly, in part so that she could listen to the conversation and to remain undetected.

“Is there any indication that anyone suspects that I killed Vork Sarnad?” the unknown woman asked.

“No, Lady Endeel. The authorities and Sarnard’s wife still believe that it is your brother who killed him.”

“Excellent! Keep it that way, Mereel. If the truth got out, my husband’s career would be over. You know how a significant proportion of Naboo’s people still have sympathy for these non-humans. It could lead to civil disturbance and it would also weaken Emperor Palpatine’s position in the eye of the Grand Moffs if any hint of his homeworld’s dissatisfaction with the Empire reached them. Dispose of anyone you even suspect of knowing the truth.”

“You can count on me, milady,” Connie replied.

Obscenities ran through Shiba’s mind. No matter how much Teff needed to be eliminated, Flik was about to kill the wrong target and it was too late now to stop him.

“You will be pleased to know that the Sarnad problem will soon be dealt with. We have dispatched a pair of assassins to deal with her.”

“Good. For your sake, hope that they are more successful than the last attempt.”

Connie didn’t reply to that. What puzzled Shiba was that the assassin Flik had dispatched earlier, had mentioned he was working for Jessa Endeel, not Connie or Teff. Perhaps Connie had hired the assassin on Jessa Endeel’s orders. 

“Do you have any word on the wolfman and the woman?” Jessa asked.

“There’s been no reports of them since they helped the Bothan to escape, milady,” Connie replied. “However, our assassins have been told to be on guard concerning them and have orders to eliminate them if they interfere. Once the Bothan’s out of the way, then the assassins we’ve hired will take care of them.”

“Be sure that they don’t cause trouble, Mereel.”

“You have my assurances that they won’t, milady.”

They have no clue that their assassins are the wolfman and woman, Shiba thought, a little giddily. At least that gives Flik the advantage, though. They won’t be expecting him.

Connie and Jessa Endeel talked for a few more minutes before Connie terminated the transmission. In order to avoid suspicion that she had heard anything, Shiba waited five minutes before going into the room.


End file.
